Tangled Web
by Jaxin88
Summary: Torchwood's been hunting for the Doctor and Rose, but this time they're ready for them. Sequel to The Phoenix and the Wolf.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: I enjoyed playing in The Phoenix and the Wolf's sandbox and felt that there was more story there, so here's the sequel. If you haven't read the previous, why not? If you don't want to, though, here's the recap: Rose and the Doctor have matching lifespans now, thanks to the Bad Wolf, and they're married. They reconnected with Harriet Jones, who warned them about the Torchwood threat (take _that_, Doomsday!). What happens now? Read on to find out…**

Prologue

Cool night air drifted over the Roald Dahl Plass, leaving a damp film over everything it touched—including the tall, battered blue police box that was tucked into a dim alleyway. The doors opened with a creak and the Doctor and Rose tumbled out, nearly breathless with laughter.

"I can't _believe_ he took you up on that!"

The Doctor grinned down at Rose, his brown eyes dancing. "What, would you rather I'd let the whole forced marriage setup alone?"

Rose shook her head and burrowed more closely into the Doctor's coat, shivering. "'Course not, you know that—but a _potato_?"

He sniffed. "I happen to know they were very happy together." At her shuddering giggle, he frowned. "You seem cold, Rose."

She rolled her eyes. "No kiddin', Sherlock."

"No need to get like that. Here, pull away for a second, I think I've got something in my pockets that'll help."

Rose stepped back, rubbing her hands over her arms, and watched in amusement as the Doctor pulled the end of a large woolen scarf out of his pocket—and kept pulling. Several minutes later he yanked the last bit out, grinning in satisfaction. "I knew I'd kept it in there somewhere. C'mere." When Rose stepped closer he began wrapping the striped scarf around her, looping and tucking until she had a warm jumper to cover her thin jacket.

She grinned up at him, warm and cozy in the woolen tangle. "I knew I married you for somethin'."

"You mean other than my dashing good looks and irresistible charm?" She smiled and didn't answer, and he frowned. "You did mean _other_ than that, right?"

Rose just giggled and pulled on his arm. "C'mon. Apparently we've got twelve hours to…" she looked around and sighed, taking in the closed shops and damp air. "Explore Cardiff at night, when everything's closed."

"Well, not _everything_. There's a nice restaurant up the bay, I thought we might stop in for a bite to eat."

"Sounds good to me." The Doctor headed off enthusiastically but Rose stopped, dragging him to a halt. "Wait a minute, was this the place Blon Slitheen took you?"

He paused. "Maybe?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he rubbed his earlobe sheepishly. "They did have _really _good food."

"Yeah, an' a murderous alien!"

"Well, if I went by _that_ standard, I'd never visit London again."

Rose opened her mouth to protest and paused, closing it again with a click. "Okay, you might have a point." The Doctor grinned and grabbed her hand, tugging her after him. They strolled off down the boardwalk, heads close together and voices carrying merrily through the night.

A dark figure stepped out of the shadows behind the TARDIS, his long coat flapping in the chill wind. "They got _married? _And I wasn't _there!_"


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I'm not exactly finished writing this story, even if I know where I want it to go, but I'll try to be faithful about updates—I'll be uploading a chapter a day.**

Chapter 1

Rose woke with a jolt the next morning, the TARDIS' mental presence shrieking with shock. She stumbled out of bed, hurriedly pulling on a pair of jeans and one of the Doctor's shirts. She found her husband in the console room, darting around the controls with a look of panic on his face.

"Doctor, what's goin' on?"

"I don't know! I've never seen her react like this before, she's terrified!"

A thump sounded at the door and the Time Rotor began to pump on its own, sending the Time Lord and his wife crashing to the ground.

Rose sat up and winced, grabbing her throbbing side. "Where are we goin'?"

"I don't know!" The Doctor had managed to drag himself up off the floor, and he was frantically flipping switches and pulling levers. "I'm not controlling it—I don't think she is, either!"

The console began to spark, and Rose felt the TARDIS' panic flood through her. Something _wrong_ was out there—something that she didn't understand, but _did_ recognize. Rose gasped, and her head snapped up. Her eyes flared gold and the TARDIS screamed to a halt, the Time Rotor reversing until they landed with a harsh thud.

The Doctor stumbled over to the monitor, and his dark brown eyes widened in shock. "Rose, we're back in Cardiff! How did you manage that?" When no answer came, he spun around. "Rose?"

She was slumped against the wall, her skin pale and feverish. "Rose!"

Her eyes opened slowly, and she smiled weakly up at him. "I'll be fine. Just… takes a bit out o' me, that's all. Get the door."

A loud knock sounded at the door, and the Doctor's brow furrowed as he glanced back down at her. "How did you know…?"

"Let 'im in, Doctor."

The Doctor hurried over to the door, holding his sonic screwdriver at the ready. With one last worried glance at Rose, he flung to door open, only to freeze in shock. "_Jack?_"

The former Time Agent stumbled into the TARDIS, dropping his heavy backpack with a thump. He turned to glare at the Doctor. "Yes, _Jack_. Nice to see you remember me—too bad it's what, two hundred years too late?"

The Doctor's mouth opened to retort, but Rose beat him to it. "Jack, I'm so sorry."

He turned to look at her, confused, then hurried over to her side once he saw the state she was in. "Whoa, now, forget that for the moment. Are you alright, Rosie?"

She grinned up at him and attempted to pull herself up, wincing as she did so. The Doctor was at her side in a moment, picking her up off the floor gently. "Oh, no no no no. Don't try any of that until I get you fixed, all right?" He started off down the hallway and paused for a moment, refusing to face the captain. "Well? Are you coming?"

The Doctor carried Rose into the TARDIS' infirmary, setting her gently on the examining table. He busied himself with setting up the equipment, determinedly _not_ addressing the living paradox that stood in the doorway.

He'd leave that for Rose to do. After all, he'd never claimed he was brave.

"Jack, I am so, so sorry." She shifted carefully, wincing as she straightened her shirt (one of his, actually, and he fought down an instinctive rush of masculine pride).

Jack stepped forward warily, though his expression softened when he looked at Rose. "You keep apologizing, Rosie, but you're not the one I need to hear it from." The Doctor's shoulders stiffened, and Rose laid her hand gently on his arm.

"But I _am_, Jack. It's my fault. I just wanted you to live, I didn't know what I was doing." She bit her lip and blinked away tears. "I just wanted to protect you."

Jack sat heavily on the bench next to the table, his face blank. "It's because of you? I can't die because of _you?_" He frowned suddenly, looking utterly bewildered. "Wait, how is that possible? I love you, Rose, you know that, but you're just a 21st century human."

She looked down and flushed. "Not exactly, Jack. Not anymore."

"What do you mean? Oh, god—did you change, too? Please tell me you're not like me, Rose. _Please_."

"She's not, Jack." The Doctor's voice broke through the fraught silence. "Of course, that's a rather ridiculous way of putting it—Rose is, most of all, herself."

"Well, excuse _me_ for not having a large frame of reference when it comes to spontaneous immortality, Doctor. It's not like there's a support group out there."

"Thank Rassilon for that." The Time Lord had spoken quietly, but Jack heard him anyway.

"So that's how it's going to be, is it? You just dump me on a satellite full of corpses and ignore me for a couple of centuries, and now that I've found you again you can't wait to see the back of me."

"That's not true, Jack!" Rose sat up, wincing, despite the Doctor's protest. "Please, it hasn't been centuries for us, just about a year—an' I've missed you, Jack. So much."

"So why did you two leave me behind? What did I _do?_"

The Doctor finished healing Rose, his jaw set. "It wasn't anything you did, Jack. It was what you _were_. I was regenerating, and I was scared, so I fled." He looked up, meeting the captain's eyes for the first time as he scrubbed his hand tiredly through his hair. "Time Lords aren't like humans, Jack, no matter what century you come from. I can sense things that you would never comprehend, can feel the planet turning, can taste history in the air. Time isn't a straight line, Jack. It's a tapestry, the most complex working the universe has ever known. And you're _wrong._ You're like diamond instead of thread, a living paradox. I can barely even look at you."

"Oh, god." Rose curled up on herself, hugging her knees to her chest.

The Doctor winced and reached for her. "Rose—"

"Rose." Jack grabbed one of her hands, holding it gently in his own. "Oh, Rosie, sweetheart, don't beat yourself up about this." He chuckled, the sound a little forced. "After all, saying you want me around forever is a hell of a compliment."

She snorted out a laugh at that, and even the Doctor grinned. Jack beamed widely. "_There's_ my girl. Or actually _your_ girl, Doc, if what I've heard along the grapevine is true." He examined her left hand, smirking at the simple gold wedding band that adorned it. "So, when did this happen? And how come I wasn't invited?"

At that, the Doctor and Rose's eyes met, and they both shuddered. Jack frowned. "Oh, come off it. I'm not _that _bad a guest. In fact, I've been told I'm great at parties." He paused. "Granted, it was Caligula who told me that, but still."

The Doctor snorted. "Jack, believe it or not, that wasn't about you." Rose cuffed him on the shoulder, and he pouted at her as she turned to the captain.

"We let Mum plan the wedding. After all, it was mostly for her, anyway. We'd already said all that needed to be said." She glanced back at the softly smiling Doctor, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed.

Jack grinned. "Well, you two are just as nauseatingly cute as I remember. Maybe even more so." He paused. "Wait, would this be Rose's Mum of the shiny purple pleather miniskirt and the blue fur coat?"

The Doctor snorted. "Sounds like Jackie, all right. I didn't even know they _made_ mother-of-the-bride outfits that short." He shuddered and rubbed a weary hand across his eyes. "I miss my innocence."

Rose just cocked her head to the side, confused. "Yeah, it does sound like Mum, but how did you know?"

Jack looked down at his clasped hands and cleared his throat. "Well, I've had a lot of time to wait for you two. I thought I'd check in on you, while I could." He met the Doctor's glare, amused. "And no, I never interfered, just made sure you two were all right. Give me _some_ credit, here."

"Oh, Jack." Rose slipped off the table and hugged him, tucking herself into his comforting embrace.

The Doctor pursed his lips. "Oi, he wasn't the only one. Remember the red bicycle?"

She laughed and hugged Jack tighter. "'Course I remember that, but I haven't had a chance to do this in way too long. _You_, on the other hand..."

The Time Lord flushed bright red and Jack grinned wolfishly, letting Rose go. "Oh, please, don't feel like you need to stop on _my_ account. Really, just pretend I'm not here."

The Doctor grimaced. "That's going to be very hard to do, Jack. And don't leer at me like that, that's not what I'm talking about."

Jack sobered and straightened, looking somewhere between hopeful and resigned. "Do you think you might be able to fix me?"

"I honestly don't know. It wasn't me, after all."

Rose bit her lip, looking between the men. "Jack, I wish I could just take it back, but I wasn't exactly myself at the time." She held up a hand as he started to speak. "I could try, but I can't promise you anything."

"Rose, no! Just sending the TARDIS back to Cardiff nearly wiped you out. Who knows what playing with the Bad Wolf will do to you?"

"'S not _playing_, Doctor. An' besides, I'm the one who messed up. It should be me that fixes this."

"Not if you could get hurt, Rosie." Jack's eyes bored into hers, and she looked down. He gently tilted her chin up to face him again. "My living is _not_ on the same level as your dying. I said you were worth fighting for the last time I spoke to you, Rose, and I haven't changed my mind—not in two hundred years."

The Doctor frowned. "Yes, what _have_ you been up to for two hundred years? That's quite a bit of time, and I hadn't heard a whisper of you—and no offense, but you're not exactly subtle."

"None taken. Subtlety is a waste of time, anyway. For the first few years after I arrived, I just wandered around—boozed, gambled, made a bit of a to-do list out of all the ways to die." He winced in memory. "Trust me, being trampled by horses is _not _the way to go. I guess I wasn't as invisible as I thought, though, 'cause one day this paranormal research and control organization came to me—the Torchwood Institute. They said either I could work for them, or I could find out exactly how many ways I could die." Rose gasped, horrified, and he smiled crookedly at her. "And really, who wants that? Trust me, it just gets boring after a while."

"Jack, I'm so sorry." Both Rose and Jack stared at the Doctor, and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "We were there, at Torchwood House. We were the reason the Institute was started."

Jack snorted. "Bull. I've read the account, Doctor. If you and Rose hadn't been there, _no_ _one_ would have survived. Queen Vicky got her panties in a twist because you joked too much, and what, that means she got to _exile_ the two people who saved her life? Please." The Doctor blinked owlishly at him, and he laughed. "Who d'you think's been covering your tracks every time you popped up? By the way, _loved_ the cricketing whites, even if the celery was kinda confusing."

Rose perked up at that, grinning widely. "Ooh, d'you have pictures? He refuses to let me see his past incarnations—says I've got enough to mock 'im about already, but I disagree."

"That I do—and they're somewhere you and your sonic screwdriver will never find them, so don't even think about it." The Doctor subsided, scowling, and Rose laughed.

There was another silence, this one far more comfortable. Rose sighed and rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder, thinking hard. "Jack? What's Torchwood want with us? Yeah, maybe we were a bit daft, but we just meant to help, really."

"Oh, they forgot about that a long time ago, sweetheart. Now they just want the Doctor, and the TARDIS, too, if possible." The alien in question stiffened, and Jack nodded grimly. "I know. Why do you think I work so hard to keep them off your tail? It's a good thing you got involved with UNIT when you did, Doctor, or else you might've ended up in a holding cell for a long, long time."

Rose's jaw clenched. "What do they want with 'im?"

"Simple. 'Knowledge is power', and they're some of the most power-hungry bastards I've ever seen." He grimaced. "D'you want to know what their slogan is? 'If it's alien, it's ours.' It's like a perfect crystallization of why the primitive centuries drive me nuts. No offense, Rose."

"Nah, I don't blame you." She frowned. "_My_ question is, what's the point of 'em? We've already got UNIT."

"Torchwood's got backers that UNIT's never even heard of, and—more importantly—they don't answer to a higher power. In Britain, Torchwood _is_ the higher power."

"So they get to do whatever they want, with no consequences?" Rose's face was flushed with anger, but a grin slowly unfurled on the Doctor's.

"Well, then. Sounds like our sort of party, don't you think?"

Jack held up a hand. "Doctor, whatever you might think, there _are_ some good people who work there. Not as many as there should be, sure, but they're there."

The Doctor snorted. "Does the term 'power-hungry bastards' ring a bell to you?"

"That _may_ have been influenced by the conference call I had yesterday."

Rose giggled. "The dashing Jack Harkness, brought low by middle management."

"I'll have you know that I'm high-level management, thank you very much. I'm actually the head of Torchwood Three, here in Cardiff."

The Doctor nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Actually, that could be just what we need."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jack sat back at the kitchen table and finished off the last of his Krinjonian biscuit. The Doctor watched him carefully, his gaze measured. Rose sipped her tea and curled further into the Doctor's side, thinking furiously.

The former Time Agent nodded decisively. "All right. I'll do it. For you two, I'll do it." He grinned suddenly. "God knows Yvonne Hartman's been getting too big for her britches lately. It'll do them all good to be taken down a peg." The grin faded, and he was startlingly serious again. "They've needed somebody to watch over their shoulder for _way_ too long."

"Just remember, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's the one you want to talk to. He's probably retired by now, or at least pretending to be, but he'll still know how to handle the situation."

Jack raised an eyebrow curiously. "This is a big deal, Doctor. If the man's retired, isn't there somebody else I should talk to?"

The Doctor shook his head firmly. "There's no one else I would trust to this. If there's anyone who can do it, it's Alistair."

"Alistair, eh?" Jack waggled his eyebrows mischievously. "Should Rose be jealous?"

The Time Lord simply watched him evenly. "Really, sometimes I wonder if you shouldn't have been neutered years ago. Alistair's an old friend. One of my oldest, actually."

Rose frowned. "I've never heard you mention 'im before. If you haven't seen him in a while, maybe we should drop by? I'm sure he'd love to see you."

The Doctor's free hand clenched on the table, and he took in a deep, jerky breath. "I've… I haven't visited him in a long time for a reason." He smiled bitterly, memories of clockwork men and broken vases flashing through his mind. "If I don't see him, that means I can still see him."

Rose reached out and took his hand in hers, rubbing at the tense tendons until he relaxed into her grip. He dropped an absent-minded kiss on the crown of her head and straightened, fighting a blush at Jack's knowing grin.

The captain took pity on him and leaned back on his chair's hind legs, addressing the ceiling. "So, I return to Torchwood, monitor them from the inside, liaise with UNIT to orchestrate a coup, and keep an ear out for any mention of you two." He landed back on all four legs with a thump, shrugging easily. "All in a day's work, I guess. It's certainly more interesting than hunting weevils."

Rose leaned across the table and grabbed his hand, meeting his eyes earnestly. "Jack, thank you so much for this. I don't know how we'd ever do this without you."

He winked at them both. "Oh, I don't doubt the two of you could pull it off—but I've got more style." He squeezed Rose's hand tightly then, his blue eyes turning serious. "It's the least I can do, really. You two gave me a home when all I wanted was to survive, and you showed me everything I'd been missing."

The Doctor winced at that. "I _am_ sorry for leaving you, Jack. We've missed you."

"It's okay, Doctor. I've cobbled together a place for myself here. Besides, I wouldn't want to get in between you two." He held a straight face for a long moment, meeting both Rose and the Doctor's looks before he dissolved into laughter. "Yeah, who am I kidding? I'd _love_ to get in between you two." He waggled his eyebrows as he got up, leering at the Doctor. "Especially with the new look. Gotta say, Doc, much as I liked the leather and the brooding, this new you is just… foxy."

Rose followed him, giggling helplessly at the beleaguered expression on her husband's face. The Doctor trailed behind them to the console room and he scrambled around the console, his expression a mask of concentration. With one last flourish, the TARDIS landed down the Bay from the Plass the moment past Jack had entered the TARDIS earlier that morning. With an enthusiastic kiss for them both, the captain swung his backpack over his shoulder—decidedly lacking in spare Time Lord hands this time, much to Rose's disgust and the Doctor's delight (_Oh, I'd completely forgotten that! Look, Rose! Isn't it brilliant?_).

The doors shut behind Jack, leaving the console room quiet. The Doctor danced around the console, flipping switches and twirling dials carelessly. Rose watched him pensively.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose?" He glanced up at her and grinned, and she smiled hesitantly back.

"How are we goin' to do this? I mean, we just pop in whenever we feel like it, but this group's been around for what, two hundred somethin' years? I just… I hate the idea that they've been watchin' you, watchin' us."

"Well, I have one simple way of finding them, at least—Jack said they're constantly appropriating whatever foreign technology they come across." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I think it's about time I give you what you asked for."

She grinned at him, tucking her hair behind her ear. "What d'you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" His grin widened, impossibly. "I'll scan for alien tech!"

Rose burst out laughing as the TARDIS shuddered back into the Vortex. They landed with a thump a few minutes later, but the Doctor stayed at the screen, flicking switches and turning dials with an almost manic energy.

She leaned against the jump seat, eyes wide with curiosity and excitement. "So, where are we?"

He glanced up from the monitor, glasses reflecting the indecipherable language on the monitors. "London, of course. That's where the main of Torchwood operates, remember? We're not anywhere close to them, but we should get a better reading of the whole city this way. I'll need a few hours to run it, but wait…" He straightened with a grin. "Actually, there's a hotbed of alien artifacts just a bit away! Here, I'll show you."

He strolled over to the door, opening it with a flourish. They had landed on a dingy rooftop, and when Rose followed his pointing finger she found herself staring at the solid grey concrete of the Powell Estates. She groaned and whapped his shoulder, while he just laughed.

"You take me to the most exciting places, Doctor."

"Oh, you know I do. Actually, d'you want to go visit her while we wait for this to finish?" The Doctor frowned when Rose backed away from him, staring at his forehead. "What?"

"Sorry, just checkin' for a zipper. Or maybe Jack drugged you—wouldn't put it past him, really."

He crossed his arms petulantly. "Rose Tyler, _what_ are you going on about?"

"Well, you're _you_. And you just suggested—voluntarily!—that we go visit my Mum."

"Ha ha, very funny. She's got _some_ good things going for her."

"Oh?" Rose raised an eyebrow skeptically, biting back laughter at the Doctor's put-upon expression. "Like what?"

He paused, pulling his earlobe while he struggled for something to say. "Weeelllll… she's your mother, for a start." When she rolled her eyes, he continued. "And she's got amazing upper-body strength for a middle-aged woman! Really, she's a world-class slapper, Jackie Tyler." Rose glared at him, and his mind belatedly caught up to what he'd just said. He winced. "I did _not_ mean that the way it came out."

"You'd better not, or else you'd find out that I really _am_ my mum's daughter."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her into his coat when she began shivering. "Really, though, I thought you might like to see her. I don't think we've been back here since the wedding."

"Yeah, there might be a reason for that. I'm not sure if I've forgiven her yet for that awful puff-pastry of a dress she made me wear."

The Doctor smiled fondly down at her. "Oh, come now. You looked lovely. Admittedly, somewhat like you were being eaten by a carnivorous cloud from Xelon VI, but lovely. Besides, at least you didn't have to wear those terrible shoes she foisted on me."

"Those were just classic dress shoes, Doctor. An' no, I didn't have to wear anything like a pair of leather oxfords—_I_ had to wear four-inch heels."

He opened his mouth, closed it. "I really don't have a solid argument here, do I?"

She grinned. "No, you really don't."

"Fine. If she finds out through some mysterious mum-in-law powers that we were nearby and didn't drop in, though, it's on _your_ head."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you wanted to see her! You're just afraid she'll find out we were here and smack you again!"

"Your mother is terrifying, Rose. Blimey, I can still feel that slap, and it was a literal lifetime ago."

"God, you're such a wimp."

"A wimp! Who was it that faced down an entire Gourian army last week, hmm?"

Rose laughed into his chest, pulling his arms more tightly around her. "Yeah, 'cause you said the Supreme High Commander looked like an incontinent hippo! It doesn't count as bravery if you brought it on yourself."

The Doctor snorted and rested his chin on her hair. "Oh, please. According to whose rules? And besides, you have to admit he did."

Her lips twitched. "'S not the point."

"I think it… " His gaze sharpened, and he frowned. "Actually, never mind that. Rose, d'you see what I see?"

She turned in his arms, shivering in the late fall air. A large black SUV was parked down the block from the Powell Estates, TORCHWOOD emblazoned on its side. She twisted her head to meet the Doctor's eyes, both of them incredulous. "Does that seriously say what I think it says?"

"It does. What kind of a secret organization drives around in giant SUVs emblazoned with their logo?" He shook his head regretfully. "Honestly, shadowy government conspiracies just don't have standards anymore."

"Never mind that! Doctor, they've been monitoring the Powell Estates. Somebody's been watching my mum! God, they probably have our wedding on file."

The Doctor paled dramatically. "Oh, Rassilon. Jackie was the only person supposed to have pictures of that." Rose tensed in his arms, and he glanced down at her face and winced. "…And that's _not_ what you were upset about."

He cleared his throat and hurried back into the TARDIS, Rose behind him. The monitor was filled with scrolling data and the Doctor scanned it thoughtfully, a slight frown on his face. "They've got some sort of primitive genetic monitoring system set up nearby, presumably in the SUV we just saw—I'm guessing to register any alien visitors, if they're watching your mum. Now, as long as we're in the TARDIS she'll hide us from any outside scans, but once we're out those doors, we're noticeable."

Rose bit her lip. "If they're monitoring for alien visitors, what would I show up as?"

He glanced back up at her and blinked. "You know what, I'm not sure. The Bad Wolf's changes aren't really overt—I only saw them because the TARDIS showed me what to look for."

She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands, rubbing her delicately engraved wedding ring for comfort. "'S just… I haven't told Mum yet, an' I don't want her to find out through anybody else."

His head snapped around. "Rose! You said you'd talk to her about it what, two months ago?"

"It's not something that just comes up in conversation, Doctor. Hi, Mum, how was your day? By the way, I died and became basically immortal recently. Hope you don't mind!"

He straightened and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. "She deserves to know, Rose. She's your mother."

She groaned. "Exactly! She'll go ballistic, and I don't know if she'll ever talk to us again!"

"Oi, she was the one who got the tow truck, remember? Technically, this _is_ partially her fault."

Rose snorted into his jacket. "Yeah, she'll love to hear that. Logic won't do any good, Doctor. She'll just hear that I died an' go nuts."

"Well, you're alive now. Surely that's got to count for something?"

"I'm alive, sure, but I'm… different. I don't even know what I am anymore."

He cupped her cheek in his hand, drawing her eyes up to his. "Rose Tyler, _what_ you are doesn't matter. _Who_ you are is still exactly the same. Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate, the Bad Wolf—and my wife."

She smiled tremulously up at him and stretched up on her toes, meeting his mouth with hers gently. His cool, long-fingered hands slid down her shoulders to curve around her waist, dragging her closer as the kiss deepened. Rose slid her fingers into his hair, shivering as he groaned deep in his throat.

They parted slowly, Rose gasping into the quiet hum of the TARDIS as he explored the soft skin of her neck. "You… you said that the scan would take a while."

His lips curved into her skin, his hands tightening their grip and pulling her closer, so close not even air interrupted them. "That I did. Why? Do you have any suggestions for what we could do to pass the time?"

She grinned and slid her hands down, down from his thick hair, along the whipcord-strong muscles in his back to… he yelped and she giggled, nipping his earlobe gently.

"Might have a few ideas, yeah. Seein' Jack again made me a bit… nostalgic."

His head jerked back, dark brown eyes confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, back then I had no idea you wanted me just as badly as I wanted you." Rose blushed even as her darkened. "Let's just say my imagination got a workout."

The Doctor's eyes were wide and curiously vulnerable. "That was for me?"

Her jaw dropped. "What do you mean? Oh my God—are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'?"

He cleared his throat and glanced down, flushing when he realized his view went straight down her (well, his really, but she was wearing it) shirt. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Rose. You're a young, healthy human—it was only to be expected. And besides, Time Lord, remember? Couldn't really help noticing it. I just had no idea it was because of me." She mumbled something into his shoulder, and he frowned. "Sorry, I didn't pick that up. What was that?"

She flushed bright red, her face pressed tight against the soft wool of his suit. "I _said_, it's always been you. Ever since 'run'."

His left eyebrow jumped towards his hairline. "Oh, really? What about the pretty boys?"

"Like any of them could compare to you." The Doctor preened and she grimaced, giggling into his shoulder. "I _really_ shouldn't have said that."

He grinned wolfishly. "Oh no, Rose Tyler. I'll hold you to that. In the meantime, though—" he swept her up in his arms, waggling his eyebrows ridiculously. "I believe the console room isn't the most comfortable of locations for your _plans_." The hallway rang with their receding laughter, covering up the sudden _ping_ that echoed from the monitor.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rose entered the console room hours later, hair still damp from her shower. The Doctor was bent over the console, looking utterly perplexed. She grinned and finished buttoning up her blouse. "What?"

He blinked and focused on her, his brow still furrowed. "What, 'what?'"

"You look like you just saw an ostrich give birth to a rhino. What's goin' on?"

"Ostriches don't give birth, they lay eggs." He ignored Rose's rolled eyes, instead focusing on the TARDIS' monitor again. "The TARDIS finished scanning the general London area, and we definitely know Torchwood's locations and capabilities, but she picked up on something that just doesn't make sense."

"Doctor, we live in a time-and-spaceship that's bigger on the inside. Things tend to not make sense around us." He sent her the 'dribbling monkey' look, and she leaned against the console, facing him. "Okay, fine, I'm sure that all makes sense through oh-so-impressive Time Lord science. So, what's bothering you?"

"The TARDIS picked up on some readings that shouldn't even _exist_ anymore." He pointed at the onscreen map of London, where a pinpoint marked H.C. Clements was flashing gold. "That company's Torchwood owned, but somehow the old girl's picking up on Huon particle energy from their location."

"An' what's that when it's at home?"

"Huon particles are ancient, Rose. They've been around since the beginning of the universe, but they're incredibly rare nowadays—in fact, they're only found…" he trailed off, staring at the glowing Time Rotor. "Only found in the heart of a TARDIS."

She reached out and covered his hand with hers, her eyes soft. "Could there be another TARDIS out there somewhere? I know there aren't any other Time Lords—I _do_ remember about the telepathy, so don't give me that look—but could Torchwood have found an abandoned TARDIS and scavenged it?"

"TARDISes don't work that way, Rose. They're bonded to their pilots, much like you bonded with mine, but if they lose their pilot, they can't survive. No. Whoever's playing with this, they aren't anything from Gallifrey." His face tightened, his eyes suddenly frighteningly dark. "And they have _no_ idea what they're doing. Just a brush with Huon energy nearly killed you when you were first exposed to it—I can't take the chance of something like that happening again."

"So we'll go check it out, yeah?" She smiled up at him. "Listen, whatever's goin' on, we'll figure it out, an' we'll stop it."

He looked down at her, eyes full of wonderment. "It's just that simple to you, isn't it?"

"Well, there'll be more steps involved—we'll probably sneak in, do some detecting, an' there'll _definitely_ be running—but yeah. We'll get it figured out."

His smile widened into a grin, and he reached around her, setting the coordinates. "H.C. Clements, here we come."

The TARDIS' doors opened with a creak and Rose stepped out, buttoning up the chic red coat she'd found in the Wardrobe. She spun around, tongue peeking out from behind her smile. "What d'you think? Professional enough? Will they believe I'm a building inspector?"

The Doctor grinned down at her, eyes tracing the slim-fitting lines of her jacket. "I think they'll believe anything you want them to."

She flushed and tugged on it, not even bothering to hide her smug smile. "Well, come on, then."

They strolled up to the front desk, sobering their expressions as they went. The Doctor reached into his jacket, only to frown as Rose pulled the psychic paper from her pocket. "Hello, Emily Marks and John Smith here. We're the building inspectors—just here for a checkup, no need for an escort." She smiled engagingly at the flustered young man behind the desk, elbowing the Doctor firmly in the ribs. He jerked and smiled wide, nodding politely at the secretary when he waved them through.

Rose led them to the wall of elevators and pushed the call button, fighting back a smile. There was a Time Lord hissy fit coming on in 3… 2… 1…

"Why did you filch my psychic paper?"

She giggled and glanced around, noting only a ginger-haired woman seemingly completely concentrated on digging through her green leather purse. "'Cause you always get to play the lead when we investigate, an' I'm tired of being the sidekick."

"Oh, come on, Rose, you're not the sidekick."

"Really? Then just standing there an' smiling, what's that?"

The woman had straightened as they were arguing quietly, an oddly militant gleam coming into her eyes. She put her hands on her hips, the purse hanging forgotten on her shoulder. "Oi, you two. You might want to be a bit quieter if you're tryin' to sneak in somewhere."

The elevator slid open and the Doctor and Rose dodged inside quickly, the ginger woman following them. "Hey, I was talking to you!" She gasped. "Oh my god, I know what this is! This is corporate espionage, isn't it? Yeah, I've read all about it. You two are _spies_. You're tryin' to steal secrets, aren't you? Well I may just be a temp here, but this place still writes my paychecks. I'm callin' security, just see if I won't!"

Rose blinked, feeling nearly steamrolled. The Doctor looked similarly flabbergasted. "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Donna Noble, and I won't let you get away with this! Just you wait 'till we get to the next floor, missy—hey!" She glared fiercely at the Doctor, who was scanning the elevator buttons with the sonic screwdriver. "What do you think you're doing?"

He glanced up, his glasses perched low on his nose. "I'm finding out why there's another button below the basement."

Donna stopped, her eyebrows drawn together. Rose bit her lip against the threatening laughter and leaned closer to the Doctor, studying the row of buttons. "So you think Torchwood's got whatever they're working on hidden down there?" The Doctor began to answer, but was interrupted by the redhead.

"Torchwood?" Donna snorted. "Sorry, Blondie, but you've got the wrong building. This is H.C. Clements."

The doors slid open onto a long, echoing tunnel, perfectly framing the stark TORCHWOOD logo painted on the wall across from them. The Doctor looked at Rose and grinned, grabbing her hand before they left the elevator. He glanced back at Donna, eyes dancing. "Torchwood owns H.C. Clements. You coming, Donna?"

She stared at them, doing a rather good guppy impression. "Who _are_ you people?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is my wife, Rose. Come on, the door's trying to close."

She started to step out and hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth between them. "Wait, what are you two doing here?" The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "So, what, you're just going to poke around then?"

Rose grinned. "That was the general idea. What d'you say? Aren't you the least bit curious?"

A slow smile grew on Donna's face, and she straightened the bag on her shoulder. "I think I am, yeah."

Fifteen minutes later, she was far less enthusiastic. "Come on, there's this great big mystery tunnel, and what's in it? Nothing! Not to mention these heels are meant for office wear, not mile-long marches!"

Rose glanced down. "They _are_ awfully cute, though."

Donna blinked and smiled, looking unexpectedly flustered. "Thanks. Lovely jacket, by the way."

She smiled back at the redhead. "Thank you." The Doctor sniffed, a slight pout on his face.

Donna rolled her eyes. "What's the problem with 'im?"

Rose grinned, fighting down giggles. "Oh, he just gets crabby if people don't notice how good he looks."

The Doctor glared at her, brown eyes blazing. "I do not!"

"You _so_ do." He opened his mouth to argue, and Rose pointed at a heavy steel door ahead of them. "Doctor? You think maybe we should check that out?"

He frowned and went to work with the sonic screwdriver, and Donna leaned closer to Rose, a conspiratorial smile on her face. "So, how long have you two been married?"

"Just about four an' a half months, I think. I'm not too good at keeping track of dates, nowadays."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder, smiling into Rose's eyes. "Four months, two weeks, three days, and seven hours, actually."

Rose giggled. "_He_, on the other hand…"

Donna whistled. "Blimey, that's impressive. Normally a bloke can't be bothered to remember to put the seat down."

"Trust me, the Doctor is _not_ a normal bloke."

"I think I'm starting to get that impression, yeah."

The Doctor straightened and opened the door with a flourish. "Ladies."

"It's… a ladder."

"Yes, Donna, I can see that, but ladders generally _go_ somewhere. Well, unless you're on Kelvos Prime, in which case, they go everywhere and nowhere at once." He shook his head. "Odd place, that. Ol' Maury Escher was Kelvian, actually—exiled for mooning the High Priestess."

Donna frowned and glanced back at Rose. "Is he always like this?"

"Oh, yes." The two women followed the Doctor up the ladder and emerged onto a small concrete island, surrounded by shimmering green-brown water. Rose gasped. "Doctor, is this…?"

"The Thames, yes. For some reason, Torchwood has burrowed their way beneath the whole length of the Thames."

Donna stepped back shakily from the edge. "Who _are_ these Torchwood people? Before today, I'd never heard of them. And now you're tellin' me they own the company I work for and have enough money an' manpower to dig their way under the bloody Thames?"

Rose took a deep breath. "Remember the alien spacecraft that showed up last Christmas?"

"Alien spacecraft?" Donna snorted. "I should've known. You're both nutters. Match made in heaven, right here."

The Doctor frowned. "Wait, you don't remember that? Big, rocky spaceship, one third of the world's population suddenly got a taste for bungee jumping without the cord? None of that ringing a bell?"

"Listen, mate, I had the hangover from hell last Christmas, but it sounds like you two were still partying." She rolled her eyes and headed back down the ladder, leaving the Doctor and Rose to stare at each other.

"Blimey." The Doctor grimaced. "Nothing like the human imagination—if it doesn't make sense, then _obviously_ it's not really there."

"Give her some time, Doctor. It's not everyday that you find out that everything you thought impossible is actually real."

He sighed and followed her down the ladder, closing the cover carefully above him. "Well, not _everything_, Rose."

She snorted. "What, so fairies aren't actually real? I'm heartbroken."

There was a very loud silence above her.

"Doctor? Fairies don't exist, right?"

"They're nothing like Tinkerbell, Rose—more along the lines of the Fae from the old tales." He shuddered audibly. "I ran into them once, and that was more than enough for me. Nasty creatures."

She laughed and shook her head, landing at the bottom and heading back into the corridor, where Donna was leaning against the wall and tapping her toes impatiently. "Every conversation I have with you just goes mad."

"You love it." He shut the door carefully, sonicing it shut.

"Yeah, I do." She grinned and leaned up to give him a kiss, and Donna rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you two, there's more to explore."

The Doctor sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. "I thought we were both nutters?"

"Yeah, well, I haven't changed my mind on that, but I still want to know what's going on."

The Doctor gave her a measuring look. "Do you really?"

She straightened. "Yes, I _really_. What, you think I don't know my own mind?" She snorted and headed further down the dank tunnel, glancing back over her shoulder when they didn't follow. "Well? Are you two coming?"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

What felt like miles later, they finally came upon a heavy metal set of doors.

Donna groaned in relief. "God, it took long enough. You know what I could do with right now? One of those motorized scooter things—what're they called? Come on, spaceman, you know what I'm talking about."

The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose while Rose giggled at them. "Segway. You're talking about a Segway. And don't call me spaceman."

"Well, you're the one who's obsessed with aliens. It seems to fit from where I'm standing, and you won't tell me your name."

"I _did_ tell you. I'm the Doctor."

"What, seriously? That's your name?" When he nodded, she grimaced. "Blimey, your parents must've hated you."

The Doctor stiffened and Rose tightened her grip on his hand, speaking cheerily to break the tension. "Looks like we've finally found something. Doctor? You going to let us in?"

He focused on the doors, and Donna peered intently at the sonic screwdriver. "So what is that thing? Some sort of ultimate skeleton key?"

"Somethin' like that, yeah, though it can do a lot more than that." Rose grinned. "Swiss army knives have got nothin' on sonic screwdrivers."

The doors opened into a cavernous, cement-lined room, half filled with tubes of golden light and half way situated over an enormous sinkhole, so deep that it almost looked like a black hole. Rose shuddered and turned back to the Doctor, who was busy studying the golden pillars.

"These are Huon particles, all right, but they're man-made. Why on _earth_ would Torchwood be bothering to create Huon energy?"

"You're making the mistake of thinking that this is Torchwood's work." Rose and the Doctor looked towards the new voice as a thunder-struck Donna said, "_Lance_?"

The Doctor glanced back at the ginger-haired woman, a frown crinkling his forehead. "You know this person, Donna?"

"Know him? He's my fiancée!"

A tall black man stepped out from among the pillars, a vivid sneer on his face. "Oh, please. Like I would ever actually marry you. You shouldn't be here, Donna. I should've known you would mess up our plans—you can't do anything right, can you?"

Rose stepped forward furiously, eyes blazing. "How _dare_ you? What gives you the right to speak to her that way?"

He snorted. "Have you spent _any_ time with her? Ooh, Brangelina this, Posh and Becks that. She can't even point to Germany on a map!" He glared at Donna, who was staring forlornly at the table behind him. "I've never met a more worthless person."

"That's… that's my coffee mug. The one you bring me every morning."

Rose looked at the table, where a cheerful yellow polka-dot mug sat next to a thick syringe of glowing gold.

The Doctor seemed to fold in himself. "Oh, Donna. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

She glanced at the Doctor, but her gaze soon returned to the mug. "What are you talking about?"

Lance laughed bitterly. "Unlike you, he actually seems to have a functioning brain. Not like it'll do _you_ any good, though. Who are you two, then?"

The Doctor straightened, his jaw tightening. "I don't think I feel like telling you. So. Lance, hmm? You've been poisoning Donna for how long, now?" Donna gave a soft cry behind him, and Rose wrapped her arms around the older woman.

"Oh, no, if you're not telling me who you are, there's no way I'm telling you anything."

A hissing voice spoke from across the cavern, echoing eerily around the room. "It matters not what the little man knows, my Lance." The unknown voice gurgled with laughter. "Why not tell him, to see the look on his little face."

Lance glanced over and swallowed. "It would make more sense if you showed yourself, my empress."

"If you insist." There was a skittering rustle of movement, and a spider the size of a small airplane stepped out of the darkness to preen herself in the light. "Look upon this face, little humans, because soon this will be the face of your mistress."

The Doctor hissed in a breath between clenched teeth. "Racnoss. But that's impossible, you were destroyed in the Dark Times!"

"Who is this little man with so much knowledge?"

The Doctor glared at the Empress, while Rose pulled a shaking Donna closer. "I'm the Doctor, and I demand to know what you're doing."

"So forceful, this little Doctor-man." The Empress laughed gleefully while Lance chuckled.

"You really don't get it, do you? I don't care who you are, you're not beating her. The Racnoss are going to wake up and win, Doctor. And when they do, I'll be right there with them." His face darkened, and he pulled an elaborate remote out of his pocket. "And nothing's going to stop me." At the push of a button, a phalanx of robots stepped out of the shadows, surrounding them with a fence of heavy artillery.

"There's something you don't get either, Lance." The Doctor's head whipped around and he found Donna staring, dumb-founded, at Rose, whose eyes were blazing with golden light. Her voice reverberated in the air, echoing with ancient power. "We're not exactly your normal, everyday humans."

A thick wheezing sound filled the air as the robots opened fire and Donna flinched down, only to find herself crouched against heavy metal grating. Her jaw dropped as she stared at the high, vaulted ceiling, the thick coral struts, the glowing Time Rotor and the ramshackle console. She blinked. "Is that a bicycle pump?"

"Hey, I have to make do with what I can find. Sorry if it doesn't meet your standards." She looked over her shoulder and found the Doctor crouched over Rose, his dark eyes desperately worried. "She's not waking up—I've got to get her to the infirmary." He glanced at her. "Just… stay put, alright?"

"Right, like that's going to happen. Need any help carrying her?"

"No, I do not! What, do I look that weak?"

"D'you want me to answer that, or should I just laugh?"

"Oh, you're hilarious." He scooped Rose's limp form up in his arms, and Donna's eyebrows rose. Well. Apparently he was stronger than he looked—good thing, too, because he looked like a stiff wind would snap him in half.

She followed him to the infirmary, feeling fainter with each step. She had just been teleported, beamed up like in that cheesy show Gramps loved. She'd been down in the basement, staring betrayal in its face, and now she was in some kind of insane labyrinth of a… what was this? A house? A ship?

The Doctor settled Rose carefully on an examination bed and began scanning her, staying silent all the while. Oh, god. She had no idea who these people _were_, she had no idea what Lance was thinking—oh, god. Lance. A cool hand rested on her shaking shoulder, and she looked up to meet the worried brown eyes of the Doctor.

"Donna, listen, I realize this is a bit much to process, but you need to breathe, all right? Here, lean down and breathe slowly. Yes, just like that." She gasped in a heavy breath and found she was crying. A silk handkerchief appeared in her peripheral vision, and she took it gratefully. There was a quiet rustle of movement to her left and the Doctor handed her a cool glass of water.

When she had finally regained her breath, he spoke softly. "Donna, I am so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"That doesn't mean I can't be sorry that it happened to you. Listen, I hate to ask you about this, but how long had Lance been bringing you your coffee?"

She gasped a little at that, and clutched the handkerchief tighter. "For five months, one week, and two days. The first day of work, he came up to me and offered me a cup of coffee. And that just doesn't happen, you know? He's the head of Human Resources, he's really going places, and I'm nobody, really. Just a temp. But there he was, every morning, with a cup and a smile."

"Donna Noble, you are _not_ nobody."

She glared at him, hoping he wouldn't notice how her hands were shaking. "And how do you know that? You've only known me a few hours."

He smiled grimly. "When you get to be my age, you become rather good at reading people."

"Your age? What's that, thirty-five? You can't even be older than me, Doctor."

"You'd be surprised."

"Doctor?" The groggy voice brought them both to Rose's bedside, where she blinked weakly up at them.

"Right here, love." He gently brushed her hair back from her forehead, and Donna bit her lip. She'd always hoped to have something like that, and she'd thought she could have that with Lance—but it looked like she'd just been taken in. _Again_.

"'S Donna all right?"

Donna smiled. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine, Rose. Whatever glowy thing you did, you got us out of there."

The Doctor absently kissed the back of Rose's hand. "Go back to sleep, Rose. We're all right, but you've got to rest."

"Mmmkay." Her eyes fluttered shut, her mascara-darkened eyelashes leaving a faint shadow across her pale skin.

He watched her for a few minutes more before turning to Donna with a desperate smile, clapping his hands together nervously. "Right! So, time to check you out."

"Doctor, is she going to be all right?"

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about. She'll be fine and dandy, just you see."

"I'm not stupid, you know." He paused as he was pulling out instruments, his shoulders tense. "You're about to pop, you're so scared."

He sagged onto a nearby stool, his shoulders drooping. "She'll be fine, I'm sure. I just hate to see her like this." He stared at his wife, the slow rise and fall of her chest, the faint feverish cast of her skin. For the first time, Donna believed what he'd said earlier about his age. She'd never seen somebody look so _old_ with just a change of expression.

Donna spoke up quietly, watching him watch Rose. "Doctor, what happened earlier—not that I'm ungrateful, but that's just not natural. What _is_ she?"

He smiled faintly, trailing his fingers gently across her cheek. "She's a miracle."

Donna rolled her eyes. "God, you're sappy."

He glanced back at the ginger-haired woman, laughter lighting up his brown eyes. "If that was just a line, then yes, it would be the corniest thing I've ever said. But her existence is literally a miracle. As for what she is now—it's a long, long story, but she used to be just as human as you are."

"Oh." She paused, almost afraid to ask the next question. "So what're you, then?"

"Oh, I'm an alien. A Time Lord."

Donna frowned thoughtfully. "Either you're mad or I am, because I almost believe you."

"Well, good. I won't make any particular claims towards sanity, but I _am_ a Time Lord. Now, about that poisoning—"

"Now, wait just a minute! If you are an alien, what are you planning on doing to me, hmm? I don't want any of this probe nonsense."

He rolled his eyes, and Donna was suddenly forcibly reminded of an irritated teenager. "Oh, honestly. No probes involved. That's a _completely_ different species. Here." He gestured at a second examination bed, and Donna eyed the pulsating ring that surrounded it warily. The Doctor huffed out an irritated breath and scowled. "It's a diagnostic tool, Donna, nothing to be afraid of. Now come _on_—Huon particles aren't good for anyone, and I'd rather get you fixed before too much time has passed."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry it's up so late! I couldn't log in all day, for some reason.**

Chapter 5

Several hours, multiple (thankfully non-invasive) procedures and one long and amazingly not useful explanation later, Donna scowled at the Doctor as Rose watched, laughter in her eyes.

"So I'm fine?"

The Doctor paused mid-ramble, looking confused. "Isn't that what I said?"

"What you _said_ was something about radions, genetic memory, and Bugs Bunny. It's not exactly like I was able to keep up, Martian boy."

"I was perfectly clear, and I've told you not to call me that! I'm not even _from_ Mars!"

Rose piped up, a Cheshire grin on her face. "So is she fine?"

"Yes! Honestly, I _said_ that! Blimey, I'm outnumbered here. This just isn't fair." The TARDIS hummed in agreement, and Rose grinned wickedly.

"Looks like she agrees with us."

The Doctor pouted at his wife as Donna stood by her, arms crossed and a smug expression on her face. "Rassilon help me, I'm surrounded by traitorous females."

Donna tutted at him. "Just like a man, to pull that just 'cause he doesn't want to admit we have a point."

The Doctor scowled. "I'll have you know that I am anything but some normal human man, Donna Noble."

She just rolled her eyes. "Believe me, you've already made that plenty obvious, Doctor." When he opened his mouth to reply, she cut him off. "Glad as I am to not have those Hooey particles in me any longer—" the Doctor tried to correct her, but she ignored him magnificently—"What are we going to do about the giant spider lady in the basement? It's not like you can just call an exterminator for something like that. What would they do, call in the Monty Python foot?"

A thoughtful expression passed over the Doctor's face, and Rose raised a finger warningly. "_No._ Remember what happened on that Saturn colony?"

He sighed, looking tragically harassed. "I can't help it if they weren't cultured enough to understand the reference, Rose."

"Doctor, you started a new religion with that stunt. Now there's a group of nutters out there who think athlete's foot is a sign of the Devil." The Doctor grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows, and she was only able to hold her poker face for a moment before she started giggling.

Donna looked back and forth between them, her lips pursed. "You know, I can't decide if your conversations are less mad or more now that I know that may have actually happened."

Rose grinned. "Best to just not think about it, really."

"You do have a good point about the Racnoss, though. The Racnoss were eradicated by the Time Lords back in the Dark Times. They were true omnivores, so endlessly hungry that they would travel from world to world, leaving barren devastation in their wake. If they're awoken, the Earth doesn't stand a chance." The Doctor frowned. "The question is, how did they survive?"

"You think that's the question, spaceman? Really? Not 'How do we get rid of 'em?'" Donna turned to Rose and snorted. "Oh, he's definitely an alien."

The Doctor kept speaking, and Donna had to wonder if he'd even heard her. "Now, while the Racnoss can eat almost anything—and I mean that 'anything' quite literally—they are really only fueled by Huon energy. My guess is that Torchwood ran into some spare Racnoss technology and decided to replicate the fuel reserves, the fools." He grinned suddenly and bounced to his feet, pacing back and forth excitedly. "But that's it! Oh, _perfect_."

Rose rolled her eyes good naturedly. "_What_ is it? Remember the poor little humans over here?"

"Right, sorry. The TARDIS was drawn to H.C. Clements because of the Huon particles that Torchwood had created, because she has a natural kinship with Huon energy. If I'm able to tap into that affinity, I might be able to transport both the particles and the Racnoss away from the Earth to somewhere safe." He paused, frowned. "Granted, doing that will probably awaken them, but by that point they'll be out of danger anyway, and I can hobble any spacecraft they have with them. You've both been exposed to Huon particles before, so stay in here—I wouldn't want to drop you off with them." He darted out of the infirmary, and Donna turned to Rose.

"Did you get any of that?"

She grinned. "The outline, at least. I'll probably never understand the particulars, but I doubt there's anyone beside the Doctor who could."

"So, what, is he some super-special Time Lord genius? Where'd you pick him up at?"

Rose winced. "Yeah, you could call him special." She glanced at Donna and bit her lip, checking the doorway as she lowered her voice. "He's actually the last of the Time Lords. There was a war, a horrible war, and he's the only survivor. As for the last bit—well, it's more like he picked me up than the other way around. I was workin' late at Henrick's one night, an' the dummies came to life and started attacking people. If he hadn't pulled me out of there, I'd be dead right now." She grinned. "'Course, I saved him right back, an' I've been travellin' with him ever since."

"Wait, you used to work at Henrick's?" Rose nodded, and Donna blinked. "Huh. I got my favorite jumper there, back before it blew up."

Rose snickered. "Yeah, that was the Doctor. I actually only got out of there a couple minutes before his bomb went off. Come on, let's go the kitchen—I could do with a cuppa."

Donna followed, shaking her head. "God, your lives are _completely_ mad. How do you live with all this, with the giant spiders and the evil shop window dummies and everything?"

Rose set the kettle on, an odd smile on her face. "Back when I was working at Henrick's, I thought I knew where my life was going—and that was nowhere. I grew up on a council estate, never got my A-levels, had a boyfriend I'd known since I was a kid. Then I met the Doctor, and I found out life is so much bigger and madder and scarier than I could've ever imagined. If you could just _see_ it out there, Donna. It's amazing. Yeah, there are some things that are terrifying and some that are heartbreaking, but I've also seen places that you'd swear could almost stop your heart from sheer beauty."

Donna accepted a steaming mug, looking wistful. "It sounds incredible."

"It is." Both women looked towards the doorway, where the Doctor relaxed against the frame, his eyes on Rose. He strolled in and helped himself to a mug, unfolding himself onto a chair. "Well, that's the Racnoss taken care of. I was able to drop 'em off on Deltos, where they won't do any harm—they'll just live out their lives, and die out naturally." He thought of something and winced. "Actually, Donna, there's something I have to tell you." He scrubbed a hand on the back of his neck and sighed. "It turns out Lance was being double-crossed by the Empress. She'd been dosing him with Huon particles, just like he'd been dosing you. When I activated the transport, he was taken with them. I wasn't able to pull him out in time, and the Racnoss got him. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Donna stared at him, her eyes glazed over. "He's… he's dead?"

The Doctor nodded unhappily. "If there was any way I could've saved him, Donna, I would have."

"I don't blame you, Doctor." She clenched her hands around her mug, staring at the milky brown tea inside. "I just… I just need some time to process this. We were supposed to be getting married on Christmas Eve. Oh, God, I'll have to send out notes to everybody we invited. What'm I going to say?" She laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "Wedding cancelled on account of giant spiders? They'll all think I've gone mad."

Rose took her hand and squeezed it, and Donna looked up. "You said this can go anywhere, right?" The Doctor nodded, and she took a deep breath. "Can you… can you take me home?"

He nodded again, his brown eyes dark. "Just tell me where to go."

Wilf glanced up from the couch as he heard an odd rustle in the back yard, hurriedly tucking the remote in between the cushions. Sylvia wouldn't be happy to find him watching his shows—she was always at him to get more exercise. The back door opened, and Donna walked in, followed by a pair of strangers. The man and woman were watching her worriedly, and Wilf looked more closely at his granddaughter.

Her green eyes were dull, and her skin was paler than he'd ever seen it. "Donna? Love, what's wrong?"

She laughed a little, and walked silently into his arms.

The young blonde at the door bit her lip. "Can I fetch you anything, Donna?"

Donna turned at that and smiled blankly at the two by the door. The man—a tall, skinny, messy-haired bloke—was watching her carefully, as if she was a bomb that was about to go off. "Nah. I think I'll be fine, now. Eventually."

The blonde nodded. "If you ever want to talk, I'll leave my number here, okay? You can call anytime."

"Thanks, Rose." The young woman nodded, still looking a bit lost, and the man rested a hand gently on her shoulder. At his look they left, shutting the door softly behind them. Donna listened to the click of the doorknob and started to shake, her tears dampening Wilf's nubbly red jumper.

"Donna? What is it, love? What's happened?"

"Oh, God. So much." She laughed damply into his shoulder. "Where do I even start?"

Rose shut the doors behind her, watching the Doctor as he sent the TARDIS into the Vortex again. He was moving stiffly, his shoulders tense and his face stiff. She swallowed and moved forward, watching him carefully.

He glanced up at her and attempted a smile. "So, where do you want to go next? I've been meaning to show you silken sand of Helios Prime. What do you say? Up for a nice beach trip?"

Rose frowned and stepped closer. "Doctor, are you all right?"

No matter how often it happened, it still hurt when he shut down. His face went blank, though his eyes were full of rage and distress. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You can't keep doing this, Doctor. We're _married_. I'm not just gonna accept that an' walk away. You're upset, and I can't just watch you tear yourself apart. I won't."

He turned to look at the console, his hands running automatically over the controls. His jaw was tight as he spoke. "What do you want me to say, Rose? That I'm upset? That I'm unhappy because _yet again_ I walked into someone's life and tore it to pieces?"

"_Stop it._" Rose's voice was fierce, and the Doctor blinked as he turned to look down at her. She poked a finger angrily into his chest, and he tottered backwards in surprise. "I _knew _you'd get like this, you always do. Doctor, listen to me. What would have happened if we never went to H.C. Clements? And don't say Donna would be better off—you know better than that."

"Lance would've kept poisoning her. Huon particles don't activate in a human body unless that body is under significant emotional stress—he was probably waiting for their wedding day for them to activate, and the Racnoss would have used Donna as…" he swallowed. "As fuel."

Rose touched his cheek gently, staring up into his eyes. "See what I'm talkin' about? Yeah, Donna lost her fiancé today—but she was also saved from the man who was poisoning her and was planning on _feeding her to giant spiders on her wedding day_. You didn't tear her life to pieces, Doctor. Lance did that. _You_ saved her."

He swallowed heavily and blinked back the dampness in his eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Sometimes you need somebody to pull your head out of your own ar—"

"Rose!" The Doctor looked thoroughly scandalized, but his voice was brimming with laughter.

She just grinned at him, not at all chastened. "So, you promised me a beach trip."

"That I did. Wait 'till you see it, Rose—the silken sand on Helios is like nothing else in the universe. It's not actually sand, you see, but that's what the settlers called it, so that's the name that stuck. It's actually a native material that has the same amount of porousness without being composed of individual granules, so there's no way to find it stuck in unwanted crevices later. Helios Prime has one of the most successful resorts in the universe, but most of its patrons are lacking in the one key element for a perfect experience: a time machine." His voice was light and happy as he danced around the console, hands flying as he piloted the TARDIS. "Thanks to the TARDIS, I can take us to the best locations far before the planet was colonized."

"Sounds good to me." Rose grinned, her tongue tucked under her teeth. "I've got some ideas that would work better without an audience." The Doctor paused as he was piloting, his eyes going suddenly dark. Her grin widened. "I think I'll go find my bathing suit—you know, that little red bikini you like so much." This time he actually stumbled, and Rose giggled in triumph as she left for the Wardrobe.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rose sighed contentedly, stretched out over the Doctor's chest as the golden suns set on opposing horizons, bathing them in warmth. The silken sand of Helios Prime was everything the Doctor had promised and more, and thanks to the TARDIS' landing fifty years before the first settlers, there was no one around for her to bother with finding the lost pieces of her swimsuit. Rose wrinkled her nose. She'd get the Doctor to help her find it eventually—after all, it was _his_ favorite.

He gave a light snore and she smiled and cuddled more closely into him, enjoying the soft tickle of his chest hair against her skin. It wasn't often that she managed to get him to sleep. He was always going on about his physiological superiority, but Rose had found (much to her annoyance) that the Doctor got as cranky as her Mum in her annual New Year's hangover when he didn't get enough sleep.

He seemed to need about eight hours a week to stay stable—though he'd once told her that after the Time War, he hadn't slept for months. Rose frowned into his skin. Considering some of the nightmares she'd woken him from, _that_ wasn't exactly a surprise.

The three moons rose as the suns vanished below the horizons, reflecting brilliant silver light across the softly shifting purple ocean. The sand beneath them was a deep forest green, and it radiated the captured warmth of the sun. A soft giggle burbled up out of her chest, and Rose grinned. There were _definite_ benefits to being married to someone who had been travelling the universe for a millennium—she might tease him about it, but the Doctor really did take her to the best places. Granted, those places were interspersed with what felt like all the questionable places and occasionally what could be termed the worst places, but overall it evened out.

An amused, sleep-rough voice interrupted her thoughts. "And what are you so pleased about?"

"You." She glanced up at him in time to see his ears darken as he flushed, and felt her smile widen even further.

He cleared his throat and smirked down at her. "You've got good taste, then. I've heard I'm quite pleasing."

Rose raised an eyebrow, amused. "Really? And who would it be giving you these glowing reviews?"

"That would be _you_, dear heart. Blimey, it's a good thing I landed us when I did, 'cause otherwise we might've ended up enjoying the no-doubt luxurious jails of Helios Prime for disturbing the peace."

Rose flushed as the Doctor sniggered and whapped him lightly on the chest. "Oh, shut it. It's not like you were exactly quiet yourself."

"No, but I'm nowhere near as easy to embarrass, and you blush so wonderfully red."

She felt herself flush harder and groaned, tucking her face back down against his chest. "_Stop_ it."

He giggled. Her husband, the Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, actually _giggled_. "Nope."

God, he'd never have been like this back when he had blue eyes—though Jack had gotten him to open up in ways that Rose hadn't seen before, ways that fired her imagination and gave her a bit of hope.

She sighed. "I wish Donna could've come along."

The Doctor's voice was amused. "I doubt she would've appreciated the view." He paused. "What brings this up, then?"

"I was just remembering travelling with Jack. The TARDIS has a lot of room, and it might be nice to have another person along."

He sighed dramatically. "Am I not enough for you, Rose Tyler? The things I put up with, honestly."

"Oh, be quiet. You know I love you. I just miss havin' another person along, somebody else who loves the travelling as much as we do—and she would've loved it, I know she would've."

"Probably, Rose, but she just lost her fiancé and found out there were aliens in the same day. Her world's been turned upside down."

"I know. I know that, I do. I just hope she'll call, someday. I kinda miss havin' a friend."

"_That's_ nice."

She rolled her eyes. "You're my best friend and my husband, but I can't help bein' human—we're social creatures, if you hadn't noticed. Who else am I going to talk to about all this? Mum? She resents me travellin', always has. Jack's busy with his team, Mickey's in another universe, an' it's not exactly like I can talk about what I saw last time I was on Saturn with Shareen, now can I?"

The Doctor cocked his head curiously. "Shareen? Do you still talk to her?"

She gave him a _look_, the kind that was reminiscent of Jackie Tyler before her first cup of tea in the morning. "Kinda the point, Doctor."

"Ah." He coughed. "Right."

"D'you remember all the people you've met?"

"You're just jumping around like a grasshopper, aren't you?" At her look, he subsided. "Not all of them, no. Some people stick out more than others. You, for example, stayed in my mind for about seven months after you first said no. You just dug your way in and nested there. I couldn't get any peace, 'cause I kept thinking about this blonde shop girl who'd saved my life."

"Seven _months_? How's that possible? You were gone, like, ten seconds!"

He rolled his eyes, over enunciating carefully. "Time machine, Rose."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Your driving, Doctor."

His lips twitched. "Yes, well. The TARDIS seemed rather eager to get back to you as well, which helped. Actually, I think she may have had a hand—a metaphorical one, of course—in getting you back a year late, as well."

"Oh, that's nice. Blame her for your rubbish driving."

"What? She really did! I think she wanted to make sure you'd come back for good."

"So she dropped us off a year late? How's _that_ make sense?"

"I don't know, ask her."

"Sure, I'll just pop over and ask the console room. That'll help."

The Doctor frowned thoughtfully. "Wait, you really don't know how to communicate with her? I thought the two of you were bonded."

Rose sighed against his skin, watching clinically as goose bumps rose on his skin. "I dunno. The Bad Wolf comes out when she has to, I s'pose, but I can't really seem to control it." She glanced up as the Doctor stilled. "What?"

"I might be able to help you connect with her." He was watching her carefully—too carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you hated the idea of having something in your head, back on Platform One— "

"Doctor, the only reason I didn't like it then was 'cause I wasn't expecting it. I've got no problem with the TARDIS now."

"It's just… I'd have to go in your mind to facilitate the connection."

"Okay."

He paused, blinking. "Really? Okay?"

"Yeah. I trust you."

"Right. Well." His fingers lifted to frame her temples, and Rose relaxed against him. "So, if there's anything you don't want me to see, just—"

"Imagine a door. I remember." She opened her eyes to find him staring curiously down at her, and the corner of her mouth quirked up. "Mickey an' I found a mirror that showed us what was goin' on in Versailles."

The Doctor winced and cleared his throat. "Ah. Yes, well, let's see what we can do here…"

Rose's eyes widened as she felt him envelope her, his thoughts swirling around her like a tornado. She grinned. "You know, there's a joke here somewhere about the eye of the Storm."

She felt his exasperated amusement warm her like a sunbeam. "Oh, you're hilarious." He concentrated, and a familiar figure began to take shape in her mind. _This alright?_

Rose gasped. The startling blue eyes, the Northern burr—he was even wearing his battered leather jacket. "Oh, my God."

_Here, just concentrate on speaking in your mind._

_Like this?_

_Just like that. _His pride shone around her, and for a moment the Doctor's mental figure blended into a skinny, messy-haired one that was just as familiar, if a bit more current.

_Wait, so are all of your incarnations in here?_

The Doctor froze, inside and out, before speaking hurriedly. _Let's work on connecting you to the TARDIS, shall we?_

_They are!_ Rose focused, and suddenly she found herself standing in the center of a whirlwind, her hair tangling into a knot. _Blimey, it's windy in here._

The Doctor was staring at her, his eyes wide and mouth open. He was so shocked that his figure wasn't cohesive anymore—his height flickered from short to tall, his hair from long, curly locks to a mod black bob. _How did you do that?_

_I concentrated._

He laughed, and it was like a bright summer day. _Rose Tyler, never stop amazing me._

_Right… anyway, so how do I do this?_

The Doctor paused, and Rose felt a presence behind her. She spun, and her jaw fell. The person behind her was herself, but it wasn't a sight she'd ever seen in a mirror. The figure's eyes were blazing gold, her blonde hair drifting weightlessly around her face. Even knowing that that was _her_, Rose had to fight the urge to fall to her knees.

_I apologize for my reticence, dear one. _The voice rolled through her mind, haunting and melodic in a way that she instinctively knew she'd never forget. _Your metamorphosis has been a challenging one, and I did not wish to cause you harm._

Rose blinked._ Wait. Are you… are you the TARDIS?_

_As you can conceive of me, yes. _ The TARDIS looked over Rose's shoulder at the Doctor and smiled gently. _You are no longer necessary in this conversation, my Doctor. Goodbye. _When Rose glanced behind her, the storm was gone and the Doctor had faded away.

She winced. _Ooh, he's not going to be happy about that._

_He is often not happy with me, even if—or perhaps especially if—he knows I was right. _The TARDIS shrugged elegantly. _I am used to it. Now, my child, we can talk freely._

_Right. _ Rose took a deep breath and sat down on the—ground? Could it be called ground? This whole telepathy thing was more than a bit confusing. _Where d'you want to start?_

_This time is for you, Rose. Ask what you will—I will answer as best I can._ The TARDIS sat as well, mirroring her, but somehow she created a low chair to sit on.

_Okay…_ Rose sighed. _How can I understand the Bad Wolf? It keeps activating—an' I'm not complaining, exactly, 'cause I was happy to see Jack an' I'm definitely okay with not getting' shot by a bunch of robots—but I can't control it. Like, at all. _

_There is still a purpose for the Bad Wolf to fulfill, dear one. _She paused and took a breath, her golden eyes tracing the horizon. _It is perhaps a trite answer coming from me, but it will all be made clear in time._

_So, I just have to wait an' see? What happens when I get knocked out next time I go all glowy?_

_You were once purely human, Rose, and your mind still remembers that. The Bad Wolf's abilities are a bit of a shock to your system at the moment._

"_At the moment?" So am I going to forget that I was human someday?_

_No, never that. Your mind just has to become accustomed to being something… more._ The TARDIS frowned suddenly, and Rose bit back a giggle. There was something remarkable odd about watching yourself scowl. _And now, it seems the Doctor has lost his patience. The time has come for you to awaken. Remember this, dear one—no matter how lost you may feel, I will be watching over you._

_Thank you._ Rose blinked, and in the flicker of her eyes she found herself once again on the beach on Helios, the moons' brilliant silver light only highlighting the worry she saw in the Doctor's eyes.

"Oh, thank Rassilon. I was so worried—why did she _do_ that, the blasted…"

"Doctor." He broke off and stared down at her, his brown eyes still dark. "I'm okay, really I am. She just wanted to talk to me alone for a bit."

He frowned. "I don't know why she had to be so rude about it."

Rose grinned. "Don't like the taste of your own medicine, do ya?"

"Rose, stop it. I was worried. I couldn't wake you."

"Doctor." She reached up and cupped his cheek, staring earnestly into his eyes. "I was perfectly safe, really I was. The TARDIS will always take care of me. You don't have to worry."

"I may not _have_ to, but I always will." The Doctor flushed as he said it, and Rose felt herself melt just a little bit more. He soon coughed and bounced to his feet, dislodging her from her perch on his chest. "Anyway, what do you say we head forward a couple weeks and pop in on Jack, see how he's doing?"

She sighed and stood, stretching luxuriously. "Sure thing, Doctor. I've just got to find my bikini—it went missing around here somewhere."

"Aww, d'you have to?" Rose's fluffy yellow towel landed on his face, and she laughed as she darted off down the beach.

It turned out the beaches on Helios Prime were just as much fun in the nighttime as they were during the day.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rose woke the next morning in their bedroom, feeling lazy and content and rather wonderfully sore. She pulled on some knickers and one of the Doctor's shirts and padded into the kitchen, her mind still fuzzy with sleep. A piercing wolf whistle interrupted the search for her mug, and she spun around to find Jack sitting at the kitchen table with a wide Cheshire grin on his face.

"And good morning to you, gorgeous." He winked at her. "I've gotta say, you definitely make my Best Dressed list."

Rose rolled her eyes and poured herself some cereal. "Jack, your idea of Best Dressed is naked."

He shrugged, handing her a steaming cup of tea. "I know what I like."

She shook her head and sipped her tea, tugging down on her shirt's hem. "You know, if Torchwood's as stuffy as you keep sayin' it is, how on Earth are you still workin' there?"

"I've been around for too long, for one thing, and for another, it keeps me where they can see me." He rolled his eyes. "Yvonne's got one of my people reporting directly to her, and she actually thinks I don't know."

"If she's so eager to keep an eye on you, why does she have you working all the way off in Cardiff?"

"Simple." Jack grinned and slipped a bagel in the toaster. "I don't like her, never have, and Yvonne Hartman doesn't deal well with people who don't like her. It's her main weakness, really. The woman can't handle anyone disagreeing with her."

"God, it's a good thing you got to us before she did, then. The Doctor would probably make her head explode."

"No kidding. With his powers of exasperation?" He shuddered and pulled the hot toast from the toaster, wincing at his burnt fingertips. "Really, the most dangerous thing about Hartman's her complete dedication to her plan of action, no matter how dangerous or illegal it might be. She can justify almost anything to herself."

The Doctor appeared in the doorway, wearing his brown pinstriped trousers and a dark blue oxford over a light grey Henley. He gave her an absentminded kiss, ignoring Jack's catcall, and began scrounging in the fridge.

Rose had to smile as she watched him. She didn't think Jack completely understood how vulnerable the Doctor was making himself by appearing without his jacket and tie, but she did, and it warmed her. He pulled out a banana—surprise, surprise—and joined them at the table, accepting a cup of tea from Jack.

"So, what're we talking about?"

"Yvonne Hartman. I'm glad you connected me with the Brigadier, Doctor. I'm starting to think you're right. He really _is_ the only person who can handle this."

"Well, when you've taken down alien dictators, power-mad Londoners are a piece of cake." He bit into his banana, chewing thoughtfully. "Which is an odd idiom when you think about it, really. I mean, if you're talking about _eating _a piece of cake, than sure, that's easy enough. _Making_ one, though? I've tried that before, and the TARDIS still doesn't let me use the oven."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Or at least that's your excuse for never makin' dinner."

"Why do that? You're a much better cook than I am, really, and if you don't want to cook, well, there are all the restaurants in the universe. Although, I'd have to recommend staying away from the Restaurant at the End of the Universe."

Jack frowned. "Why? Bad experience?"

"Nah, I've just been there too many times. Trying to keep away from all my past selves can _really_ be a headache when you've lived as long as I have."

Rose cleared her throat. "So, about Torchwood. The Brigadier's got the situation in hand?"

"Fairly well. He and I have been coordinating, getting our agents placed strategically around Torchwood One. Once UNIT moves in, we _have_ to be able to take everything down at once. It's the only way to stop Yvonne from hiding her more unsavory practices and continuing on as she has. Torchwood's got an iron-clad legal framework set in place just in case anything like this happens, but the Brig's managed to get special permission from UN for this one try. We've got to go in hard, we've got to go in fast, and we have _got_ to stop them from raising their defenses." He took a deep breath. "That's why you two can't be there."

"Jack!" The Doctor and Rose's voices rose in unified outrage, and the former Time Agent winced.

"I'm sorry, guys, but it's true. Neither of you can be there. I know you've both got plenty of experience when it comes to taking down megalomaniacs, but the fact remains that you're both vulnerable here. Rose, I've managed to get UNIT-only agents keeping an eye on your mum, but if either of you show your faces at Torchwood, she'll be raised to a priority one and dragged in as a bargaining chip."

"_WHAT?_"

"And I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it without blowing my cover," he continued calmly, ignoring Rose's shout and the Doctor's death glare. "Listen, you two, I know Torchwood is after you, and I know how it is to feel hunted, but there's more than you at stake here. What happened last Christmas with the Sycorax is small beans compared to some of the galactic violations Torchwood has perpetrated over the years. I've done my best to stop them when I can, but there's only so much I can do from under their thumb."

Jack leaned forward, his blue eyes nearly burning in their intensity. "Listen, I know my 21st century history. I know what humanity's first century of contact is _supposed_ to look like, and it's not much like what I see around me. We have to correct this, Doctor, and if you two interfere, you might throw off the whole plan."

The Doctor's jaw clenched, and Rose stared down at the table. "So if my mum's being watched, can we pop by and pick her up? It's not like they can snatch her if she's not there, is it?"

Jack winced. "Actually, that might tip them off." A slow smile grew on his face as he glanced over at the Doctor, who had turned rather pale. "Not to mention, I'm not sure the Doc here would survive living with your mum."

Rose raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, but he didn't deny it. She sighed. "Fine, but I don't like it."

The Captain smiled crookedly. "I don't like it, either, sweetheart, but hopefully it'll be over soon. In the meantime, I'll get back to my team and you two can get back to shagging your way across the universe."

"_Jack!_"

He grinned unrepentantly. "Aw, you two are just too cute. You even match when you blush." He winked. "Call me if you need me."

At that he strolled out the door, and Rose met the Doctor's eyes and started laughing. He really was adorable when he blushed, and right now he was about as red as a tomato.

He scowled. "What?"

"Nothin'." She grinned. "It's just fun to watch Jack wind you up—he seems to be better at it, this time around."

"Oh, please." He cleared his throat and finished his tea, his ears still bright red. "Now, the question is, what do we do about Torchwood?"

Rose frowned. "What do you mean? Jack just told us why we can't interfere, an' I don't want to chance Mum getting grabbed by Torchwood."

"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of adventure?" He grinned, brown eyes sparkling. "Do you really think I can't manage to sneak us in without anyone noticing?"

Her answer was swift and unequivocal. "Yes."

He clasped his chest. "Rose Tyler, you wound me."

"Yeah, an' if we get caught by Torchwood, they might wound _her_. Doctor, I don't like waitin' any more than you do, but I'm not willing to jeopardize my Mum's safety to satisfy my curiosity."

"Distraction it is, then." The Doctor sighed deeply and followed her out of the kitchen, heading towards the console room as Rose returned to their room to shower and change.

When she joined him there half an hour later, she found him frowning at the monitor. She leaned against his shoulder, looking at the incomprehensible swirls that flashed over the screen. "What's goin' on?"

"I'm not sure that distraction will work, Rose." He scowled at the screen. "I've been monitoring Torchwood ever since I found out about their idiocy at H.C. Clements, and I'm not sure that even Jack and Alistair will be able to handle this one." He glanced down at her and pointed at the screen. "See that line there?"

"Yeah?"

"That's their energy output. Up until about a month ago, they had relatively consistent readings, but then something happened. _Something_ began spiking their output, and unfortunately, the TARDIS recognized what it is they're playing with." He took a deep breath. "Rose, they're somehow opening the Void."

"Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that's not good."

"Think atomic holocaust levels of not good. If Torchwood manages to open the Void, Rose, they could rip not only this universe apart, but also whichever one they're trying to connect to."

"How're they even doing that? I mean, didn't the TARDIS almost die that time we got pulled into another universe?"

"I've got no idea, but I'm guessing it's connected to all the alien tech they've collected." He scowled. "Scavenged, more like. I can recognize some of the energy signatures coming from Torchwood Tower, and they're _not_ supposed to be used that way."

"So what do we do? Jack'll kill us if we mess up his plan, an' I don't want Mum to be in danger."

"Then we'll get her out of danger. Listen, do you have any family members out of town?"

She cocked her head, considering. "Well, cousin Mo lives up in the Lake District."

"Could you call Jackie and see if she could go stay with her for a couple days?"

Rose frowned. "Doctor, don't you think Mum would be safer here?"

"Yeah, she might be safer, but she'd also be more conspicuous. The more commonplace we can make her absence, the safer she'll be." He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "You know, I could arrange for her to win a walking tour of the District. That'd get her out of the way."

Rose snorted. "My Mum? On a walking tour of the Lake District? Doctor, she'd rather be run over."

The Doctor's eyebrows lifted and his mouth opened, and she laid her finger against his lips warningly. "No."

"Well, she can't be where they can get to her."

"I'll call Mum and find out what Mo's up to." She bit her lip, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'll have to be careful—Mum's got a rubbish poker face, and if she figures out that anything's wrong, Torchwood might realize we're onto them."

"Rose Tyler, I've seen you make your mother smile even after the bloke with the satsumas broke up with her via text message. You can do anything." He paused and frowned. "Actually, I think I still have his pyjamas."

Rose giggled. "You do. I blame them for your pinstripe fixation." She took a deep breath, released it. "Okay. I can do this. I just have to make Mum believe going to visit Mo is her idea, and not let her know anything's wrong." After a moment, she groaned and buried her head in the Doctor's shoulder. "Doctor, she's my mum. She can tell when I have a headache just by the sound of my voice. Not to mention I'm a _terrible_ liar."

He rolled his eyes, but wrapped his arms around her. "Well, that's definitely true. Just call her, Rose. You can work it out as you go."

"Right. Yeah." She headed for their bedroom, cell phone in hand. "Don't go bargin' into Torchwood while I talk to her, okay?"

He deflated a bit, but nodded anyway.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rose curled up on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as her phone rang. If there was one person she had never been able to lie to, it was Jackie Tyler. She'd know something was wrong as soon as she heard Rose's voice.

There was a click, and Rose grimaced, forcing herself to sound cheerful. "Hey, Mum."

"Rose! Oh, I'm glad you called, sweetheart, I've been meaning to call you. You'd never guess who I ran into in town the other day."

She blinked, her focus shifting from the comforting, coppery glow of the ceiling. "Who?"

"Well, I told you to guess, didn't I?"

"Mum, I don't know. Cousin Mo?"

"Of course it's not your cousin Mo, she hasn't been in town since the wedding—and don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't called me since then. Honestly, just because you're married now doesn't mean you don't have a mother any longer."

Rose winced. "Sorry, Mum. We've just been dashing from place to place, and it's easy to forget how much time passes out here."

"'Course it is, you don't need to tell me what you two have been up to. I was married once, too, y'know."

"Mum!"

"Oh, come on. You're a married woman, Rose, this shouldn't be a surprise to you."

She groaned and yanked a pillow over her head. "Who was it you ran into, then?"

"Fine, be that way." There was a rustle at the other end of the line, and Jackie sighed in contentment. "There, that's better. You know, I've been trying out a new bra I just got from Marks & Spencer, and I swear it was designed by a robot. I think I'll take it back and see if I can get a refund. God, that thing's uncomfortable."

"_Mum._ Who did you see?"

"Well, I don't know why you called if you don't want to talk." At Rose's groan of frustration, she tutted. "If it's that important, I'll tell you. Honestly, though, you won't believe me, especially after all that drama about how you'd never see 'im again—and I call that a dirty trick, really. I've missed 'im, I really have, and it was nice to see him again, even if he was a bit brusque."

Rose sat up hurriedly, her eyes wide. "Wait, _who_ did you see?"

"Oh, didn't I say that already? It was Mickey. An' I don't know what you and the Doctor were goin' on about, saying that he was gone and we'd never see 'im again. I was out doing some shopping an' there he was, plain as day." She paused. "He asked about you an' the Doctor, but I didn't tell 'im about the wedding. You get to do that, yourself."

Rose felt her stomach go into free fall even as her hand clamped down on her phone. "Listen, Mum. Mickey being here means something bad is happening, and it's happening now. I know you don't like it when I don't tell you everything, but you _have_ to trust me on this. Please, get out of town. Go visit Mo, just don't stay in London."

Jackie's voice rose precipitously, and Rose winced. "An' how am I s'posed to do my job, then? What about Quiz Night down at the pub?"

"Listen, the Doctor and I will chip in to cover however much you'd be losing by being out of town for the next few days, but it's really not safe for you there. _Please_, Mum. Something big is going down, and I want you safe."

"All right. I'll call Mo and see when I can head over." For once, it seemed Jackie was actually listening to her daughter. Her voice had softened, and Rose could hear the fear in it—she hated putting it there, but some things were necessary.

"I love you, Mum. I'm sorry to put you through this, but I do love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Call me when you can, all right?"

"Right, will do. Bye." She hung up and stared at the phone in her hand, lost in thought. A soft voice came from the doorway.

"I'm guessing the plan to not let her know anything wrong is out, then?"

Rose glanced up and saw her husband standing in the doorway, watching her with worried eyes. "Doctor, she saw Mickey downtown. The other universe Torchwood's trying to contact—it's the one that he stayed behind in."

He nodded and joined her on the bed, and she leaned into his shoulder. "I thought that might be a possibility."

"An' you didn't think you should maybe tell me that?"

"Well, there wouldn't be much point if I was wrong, now would there?"

"Still. Mickey's back, Torchwood's tearing open a hole between the universes, and we can't go investigate, 'cause Jack'll have our heads if we do."

The Doctor rested his head against hers. "Well, we could wait for him to give us the all-clear. _Or_ we could find out when he's planning the incursion, and go in that day. I don't think Jack's aware of Torchwood's Void experiments, and that's not something I can allow to continue."

Rose swallowed. "Jack's right, though. We are vulnerable here, and not just 'cause of Mum. What happens if one of us gets captured? If that happens, Torchwood would have the perfect leverage."

"Well, then I guess we'd better stick together, hmm?"

"You're really determined to do this, aren't you?"

"I can't just sit on the sidelines, Rose. What Torchwood's doing with the Void is big, maybe universe-ending big. I have to stop them."

She sighed. "You know, it'd be nice to not have to worry about the universe ending every week."

"Now you know how I feel." He dropped a kiss on her head and bounced to his feet, snagging his jacket before leaving the room.

Rose followed, her mind a jumble. So Mickey was back. She'd missed him, of course, but she was almost dreading seeing him again. He'd never really got on with the Doctor, and there was no way he would take the news of their marriage well—not to mention her slight case of immortality. She glanced down at her phone and winced, tucking it deep into her pocket. She still hadn't told her Mum _that_ particular detail.

The Doctor was moving swiftly around the console, a look of deep concentration on his face. Rose sat on the jump seat, biting her lip. So despite Jack's advice, they were charging into the heart of an organization that was dedicated to capturing the Doctor. She shook her head, amused. She only wished that this was a novelty.

"…Aaaand we're here." She glanced up at the Doctor, who was grinning at the Time Rotor. "Perfectly timed, if I do say so myself. I believe Jack and the others will have just begun their raid."

"And we're goin' out into the middle of it?"

"Oh, no. We're going to the heart of the disturbance—something was just expelled from the Void a bit ago, and that's _never _good news." He led her to the door and opened it cheerfully, nearly running into the stunned scientist that stood outside. "Oh, hello. I'm the Doctor, who are you?"

"Dr. Singh… how did you do that?"

"Oh, old Time Lord technology. You wouldn't understand. I heard something just came out of the Void?" He stepped out of the TARDIS and peered around the empty white room curiously.

"Just a few days ago. How did you hear about it?"

"You wouldn't understand that, either." He strolled forward, eying the hovering gold sphere. "Well, now, what are you?"

A loud pounding came from the doors, and Rose glanced back to see that the TARDIS had effectively blocked the doorway. She grinned.

"Well, Doctor, looks like you parked in the right place for once."

He ignored her, but Dr. Singh glared at her. "Listen, I don't know who you people are, but I _sincerely_ doubt you are authorized to be here."

"Oh, no. We're not. Why bother with all that paperwork? It's much more fun to just explore." The Doctor grinned disarmingly and whipped out a pair of 3-D glasses, once again peering at the sphere. He made a small pleased noise in the back of his throat and Rose joined him, Dr. Singh trailing along unhappily behind her. "I thought that might be it. Look." He handed Rose the glasses, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

She rolled her eyes and slipped them on, only to frown when she looked at the sphere. "Wait, what's that?" A sickly black haze surrounded the sphere and when she raised her hand to wipe off the glasses, she was surprised to notice the same (if lighter) cloud hovering over her own skin. She looked at the Doctor, and he was in the same condition. "Doctor? How come you an' I have the same marks on us as that sphere?"

"It's rather simple, really. Every time someone—or some_thing_, in this case—passes through the Void, they're marked by particles of Void energy. You and I have been through a few times, so of course it shows up on us. From the density of the Void particles surrounding this ship, though, I'd say it's been in the Void for quite a while." He rested a hand on sphere without thinking, and flinched back as the smooth surface of the sphere split into seams, each folding back and allowing a brilliant white light to escape.

Dr. Singh stomped forward, yanking both of them back from the Void ship. "What have you done, you fools!"

Rose snorted, even as she clutched the Doctor's hand more tightly in her own. "Oi, don't look at me! It was all him, this time."

His eyes didn't leave the opening sphere, but his voice was dry. "Thanks for the support, Rose."

"Anytime." The ship's last panel slid away, and they could finally see what was held inside.

The Doctor's eyes grew wide, and his voice was strained as he whispered, "Impossible."

Rose's eyes suddenly blazed gold in the pristine white room, and her voice reverberated through the chamber. "_No._" Her hands snapped up, and a stream of golden light from the open doors of the TARDIS flew across the room to strike the four Daleks that had emerged from the ship.

In less than a minute, nothing was left of them but a pile of golden ash.

The Doctor blinked. "Well, that was anticlimactic. Not that I'm complaining, of course." He turned to look at Rose, and caught her hurriedly as she collapsed. "Whoa, there. Come on, dear heart. You've got to stop doing this to yourself. Dr. Singh?"

The Torchwood employee was watching them warily, his eyes wide. "…Yes?"

"I've got a friend who'll be here soon, a Captain Jack Harkness—you should probably just surrender when he gets here, by the way—but if you could tell him I'll be back soon, that'd be great." At that he carried Rose into the TARDIS, dematerializing and leaving Dr. Singh to face the phalanx of UNIT soldiers that had been attempting to break down the door.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rose groaned and raised her head, slowly pushing herself up from the… ground? _Wait. I've been here before._

_That you have, dear one._ The calm voice echoed around her, and Rose stumbled to her feet, glancing around. The TARDIS' Rose-figure stood beside her, smiling gently.

Rose frowned. _How'd I get here, then? Last time the Doctor had to help me in._

_ I thought it would be best to speak to you as you recovered. Come, walk with me._

Rose followed the TARDIS—herself—bemusedly, walking through blank nothingness until she suddenly found herself surrounded by golden fields under a burnt-orange sky. _Whoa. Where are we?_

The TARDIS was staring around herself, drinking in the landscape with her blazing gold eyes. _This was once my home._

Rose started, staring around herself curiously. _You mean this is…?_

_ Gallifrey, yes. All that is left of her. She was once the guardian of the universe, and now she resides only in the Doctor's and my minds—and yours, now. _The TARDIS smiled sadly. _And even this is but a shadow of her true self. The planet used to sing to us, you know. To my brothers and sisters and I. No matter where we were in the multiverse, her song would guide us home. _

_ I'm so sorry._ Even as she said it, Rose winced. How could three words ever be enough to comfort such a loss?

Golden laughter flickered from the figure beside her, and the timeless voice was amused. _You'd be surprised at the power three small words can wield, even if it isn't those particular three._

Rose blushed, remembering the shocked, disbelieving look that still showed in the Doctor's eyes whenever she told him she loved him.

The TARDIS nodded approvingly. _Just so, dear one. _She turned to look at the blazing twin suns again, her blonde hair drifting weightlessly around her. _In the last days of the Time War, as the Doctor buried himself in desperate plans, I looked to the future. His future. He would be the one to end it all, we both knew. No one else had the integrity or the courage, or perhaps the madness. Yet I knew something that he did not: I knew that he would survive. That survival could be either a gift or a bitter curse, and I swore that I would do all I could to protect my Doctor. And then we met you. In you, Rose, I saw fearless loyalty and a love that could heal his wounds._

Rose stared at her trainers, battered and dingy against the shining grass. _That's a nice thought an' all, but I haven't really healed him. His wounds are still there, he's just better at hiding 'em._

_ So impatient, the both of you. _The TARDIS laughed softly. _It takes time, dear heart, time and love—both of which you can now give him freely. You may not see what you have done for the Doctor, but I do. You've given him a priceless gift, Rose. He no longer merely survives. With you, he lives. _She cocked her head, as if listening to an unseen speaker. _Your time to awaken grows near. I am sorry for the pain the Bad Wolf has caused you, these last few weeks. Her purpose is fulfilled, and you need not worry about… how did you put it? 'Going glowy' again._

Rose followed her example and stood, brushing golden blades of grass from her jeans. _The Bad Wolf's gone? _She should have felt relief, she supposed, but all she felt was hollow.

_ Not all of her. She will forever protect you, but you are no longer her conduit. With the destruction of the Cult of Skaro, she has ended the Time War once and for all. The Daleks are no more, and the Doctor is safe from their pestilence. _The TARDIS snorted, sounding remarkably exasperated. _Of course, it's probably too much to hope for that he will remain safe for long, but that's why we are here._

Rose bit her lip and shoved her hands in her pockets. _TARDIS? If the Bad Wolf's gone—if I can't access her anymore—what about Jack?_

The TARDIS sighed, her golden eyes sad. _Jack's resurrection was no chance thing, Rose. His life will be a long and a hard one, but the universe needs him. Why else do you think it insists he stay?_

Rose nodded before impulsively reaching out and hugging her, ignoring the oddity of the situation. _Right. Thank you._

_ You're welcome, dear one. Close your eyes._

Rose did, and opened them to find herself staring up at their bedroom ceiling. There was a rustle beside her, and the Doctor's worried face appeared.

"Rose?"

"Yeah?" She coughed, surprised to find her throat dry and aching. The Doctor hurried into their bathroom and returned with a cup of water, which he helped her sit up to drink. "Thanks."

"No problem." He was still watching her carefully, brown eyes dark. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine—bit weak, that's all." She glanced at her husband and frowned, taking in the rough stubble on his cheeks and the shadows under his eyes. "How long was I out?"

The Doctor sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, grimacing at the state of it. "Around three days, give or take." He glanced at her and smiled wryly. "You know, this gives me a whole new appreciation for why you were so mad at me last Christmas."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Not much fun, is it?"

He looked away, jaw tight. "No, it's not. Not at all."

"Hey. I'm right here, yeah? I'm fine." She reached up to turn his face back to hers, and he nuzzled into her palm. "What happened at Torchwood?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember the ship opening up, but then everything goes gold. I went all Bad Wolf again, didn't I?"

"That you did, and I wish you would stop doing that."

Rose frowned, rubbing her forehead. "I don't think you'll have to worry about it anymore. The TARDIS told me the Bad Wolf's 'purpose was fulfilled', and we won't have to worry about her anymore."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You were talking to the TARDIS?" When she nodded, he scowled. "No wonder she wouldn't let me wake you up."

"She took me to Gallifrey, in my mind." Rose glanced up, biting her lip. "It was beautiful."

His face tightened for a moment, but his eyes softened when she took his hand. "It was."

"An' she told me the Time War was over now, really over." Rose took a deep breath. "Apparently the—what did she call it? The Cult of Skaro? Anyway, apparently they were the last of the Daleks." She sighed and flopped back against her pillows, hand at her forehead. "I'm almost afraid to believe she's right, though."

The Doctor's voice was dark. "Yeah."

"Were you able to fix the hole the Void ship caused?"

He flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I—ah—I haven't been back to Torchwood, necessarily."

"What? Why not?" He raised an eyebrow at her, and she turned red. "Oh. Right."

"Now that you're awake, though, I think it's time to explore."

Rose grinned up at him. "You might want to take a shower, first."

"Oi! Rude."

She stretched. "Actually, I could probably use one, too."

The Doctor's expression shifted from offended to intrigued so quickly that Rose couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS landed with a thump, and within a minute there was a knock at the door. The Doctor swung it open to find a tall, broad-shouldered UNIT guard standing outside, looking supremely discomfited. "Yes, hello. Who are you?"<p>

"Private Ross Jenkins, sir. I was told to wait for you and to escort you to the Brigadier's headquarters when you arrived." The soldier saluted, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Rassilon. Not this again. Don't salute. Really, don't."

Rose grinned, her tongue tucked between her teeth. "Oh, so you're salute worthy here? How come that doesn't happen more often?"

"_Rose_." The Doctor's ears were turning pink, and his voice had picked up a distinct whine. She giggled and turned back to the private, who had caught a glimpse of the TARDIS' interior and was staring, dumb-founded, inside. The Doctor glanced behind him and sighed. "Yes, it's bigger on the inside than the outside. I believe you were supposed to be taking us somewhere?"

"Oi." Rose nudged him in the side. "You're bein' rude."

The Doctor grimaced and nodded apologetically at Ross as they walked down the hallway. "Sorry, Ross. I'd forgotten about the old UNIT hierarchy, that's all. It's like slipping into an old skin—creepy feeling, that."

Rose paused, her eyebrows drawn together. "_Please_ tell me you're not speakin' from personal experience."

"What? No, don't be daft."

"Well, I don't know, do I? When we met, you were wearin' a different face."

"Yes, but regeneration is a completely different process than moulting."

Ross, in the meantime, had begun to turn a rather interesting shade of chartreuse. He reached a door guarded by two other soldiers and handed them off with poorly-hidden relief. "The Doctor and Rose Tyler to see Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart."

The short brunette woman who seemed to be in charge looked them up and down, sniffing disdainfully. "Identification, please."

"No need for that, Sgt. Lundy." The door opened, a tall, neatly dressed man with a precise mustache on the other side. "No one would be mad enough to impersonate the Doctor around here." He paused, and his mustache twitched as he smirked. "Well, Captain Harkness might."

The Doctor grinned and rocked on the balls of his feet, looking so excited Rose feared for a moment that his hair would actually take flight. "Alistair. It's good to see you."

"And you, old friend." He invited them into the spacious office that was apparently their war-room, glancing back over his shoulder at the Doctor. "Although I'm not sure that appellation really applies anymore."

"Oh, you'd be surprised."

"Knowing you? For some reason, I doubt that." He smiled at Rose and offered her his hand. "I've heard much about you, Miss Tyler. May I say, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance?"

Rose blushed and shook his hand, caught completely off guard. Much as she loved the Doctor and Jack, they couldn't exactly be termed gentlemen. "You may. An' the pleasure's mine, really."

The Doctor scowled. "Oi. You've got Doris, no need to be charming."

"Indeed." The Brigadier's eyebrows lifted, and he winked at Rose. "Well, I can see that you haven't changed all that much. Congratulations to you both, by the way. Doris wanted me to invite the two of you over for tea sometime soon, on the understanding that you would land somewhere _other_ than her rosebushes."

The Doctor coughed lightly. "I did remember to apologize for that, didn't I?"

"The first time, yes."

The door opened and Jack walked in, wincing away from a very loud and very familiar female voice. "An' let me tell you this, mate—Torchwood had better think twice before deciding to come after me again!"

Jack flopped down at the desk, rubbing his forehead. "Trust me, we already are."

The Doctor and Rose, meanwhile, were staring at the ginger woman who was standing in the doorway. "Donna?"

She blinked and pursed her lips at them. "Oh, honestly, I should've known you'd show up _now_."

The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, where were you when Torchwood decided to pick me up for questioning, hmm? And by the way, you might want to be a bit more careful next time you're breakin' in to a secret organization's laboratory—they had the whole thing caught on camera."

Rose winced. "You could've called us, Donna. We would've gotten you out, somehow."

"Please, and get you two caught by these nutters? Tell me, how would that have helped?"

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "But you just said—"

"Oh, bother what I said. I wouldn't sell the two of you out like that." She smiled suddenly, and pulled Rose in for a hug. "It's good to see you."

"You, too, Donna. We've missed you."

Jack laughed. "I take it you guys know each other."

The Doctor grinned. "You could say that, yeah." He hugged Donna happily when Rose released her, and turned back to Jack. "She helped us get rid of a little spider infestation."

"Spiders? Sounds a bit low-key for you, Doctor."

Rose shuddered. "They were the size of elephants."

He paused. "Yeah, okay, that sounds more like it."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Brigadier cleared his throat. "If today is to be the day of reunions, Doctor, then there is another person you might like to see around here somewhere." He opened the door and leaned out. "Sgt. Lundy, would you be so kind as to fetch Agent Smith, please? I believe he was down in Research and Development, the last I saw him."

Sgt. Lundy saluted briskly. "At once, sir."

Jack leaned his chair back, a wide grin on his face. "I can't wait to see your faces when the mysterious Agent Smith arrives."

Rose lifted an eyebrow. "You mean Mickey?"

He landed with a thump, pouting. "Oh, come on guys, who told?"

She laughed. "Actually, it was Mum. She ran into 'im while doing some shopping downtown."

"Damn it, I was looking forward to the big reveal." He paused. "So how did Mickey the Idiot end up locked away in a parallel world, anyway?"

Rose's "Don't call him that!" collided with the Doctor's "Long story…" and Donna snorted and took a seat, helping herself to a cup of tea from the service on the table. Jack met her eyes and grinned.

The Brigadier coughed politely, and the Doctor and Rose quieted. "I find myself curious as well, Doctor. It's not every day that we receive visitors from a parallel world."

"He's not actually from that world, he's just been living there the past year or so." Both Jack and the Brigadier were listening closely, so Rose continued as the Doctor helped himself to a cup of tea and sat next to Donna. "He an' I grew up together, even dated for a bit. After I started travellin' with the Doctor, though, he wanted to see what I saw. He came along with us for a bit, an' somehow we got pulled into a parallel world, one where his gran—the only _real_ family he had—was still alive. His parallel self, Ricky, was killed fighting the Cybermen, and after we destroyed the factory he decided to stay behind to help rebuild and to take care of his Gram."

The Doctor paused, his mouth full of biscuit. He swallowed. "Apparently it's not that long a story, after all."

"And now he's back." Jack frowned. "I knew Torchwood One was ambitious, but I had no idea they would actually endanger universal stability for their own gain."

The Brigadier snorted. "From what UNIT has gathered over the years, it's not all that surprising."

Donna spoke up. "So, what _is_ Torchwood, exactly? I mean, I know they've got plenty of resources, but what it is they do?"

Jack sighed. "They were supposedly started to protect the British Empire from extraterrestrial threats. As time went on, though, it's the extraterrestrials who've needed protection from them." He shook his head, looking exhausted. "That's the danger of having no higher authority. You get to thinking that your decisions are right because they're your decisions."

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "So, has anything been done yet about the universal breach?"

A familiar voice spoke from the doorway. "That's where you come in, Doctor."

"_Mickey!_" Rose ran across the room, throwing herself into her old friend's open arms. He picked her up and swung her around, laughing.

"I've miss you, babe." The Doctor cleared his throat pointedly and Mickey set Rose down and reached out his hand, his posture straightening precisely. "Doctor. Good to see you."

The Doctor shook his hand seriously. "You too, Mickey. I never thought I'd say this, but I missed you."

Mickey grinned a little, the almost forbidding military bearing fading away. "You always did know how to make a bloke feel welcome, Doctor."

"What can I say? I'm good with people." That drew a round of skeptical noises from the people around the room, and the Doctor scowled. "Oh, be quiet. So, Mickey! A ship filled with Daleks pops through the Void, and you show up right after. What happened?"

"Wait, what?_ Daleks?_ Where?" Jack had leapt to his feet, his face ashen. The Brigadier's bearing had stiffened automatically, and Mickey frowned.

"That was Daleks? Huh. I thought they didn't like to play with others."

The Doctor waved off Jack's interruption with an impatient grimace. "Don't worry, Jack, Alastair, they're definitely gone—but what do you mean about them playing with others?"

Mickey rolled his eyes. "Well, the whole reason I'm here is 'cause the renegade Cybermen were using that ship in an attempt to break through to a whole new universe."

The Doctor frowned. "The destruction of the emotional inhibitor should've destroyed all the Cybermen."

"The innocent victims, yeah. Even not-so-innocent ones. But the ones we've been hunting are the ones who volunteered."

Rose paled. "Oh, God, who would _volunteer_ to get their humanity cut out and stuffed in a tin can?"

The Doctor sighed, looking suddenly exhausted. "Sociopaths, psychopaths. People who just saw the power, and didn't care about the cost." Donna's jaw tightened.

Mickey nodded grimly. "The ones who survived are real nasty pieces of work. We'd managed to get 'em down to one last hideout, but when we stormed it we found 'em using that sphere to escape. Torchwood was able to recognize the dimensional rift, and they'd been working on some tech that would allow someone to follow." He glanced at Rose and looked down, his hands clenched tight. "An' since Gran had passed away a few months ago, I volunteered."

She hugged him, clenching her eyes shut. "Mickey, I'm so sorry."

He laughed a little into her hair, squeezing her tight. "It's alright, babe. I won't pretend it didn't hurt, but this time she passed away peacefully, in her sleep. Besides, I got a few more years with her, and I could never be unhappy about that."

Rose cocked her head. "A few _years_? How long were you over there?"

"About four years."

The Doctor paled. "Ooh, temporal misalignment. That's not good."

Donna spoke up. "What's that mean?"

"What it means is that the dimensional rift the Void ship created is unstable, and it will only become more so."

The Brigadier frowned. "Not to mention we have seen neither hide nor hair of the renegade Cybermen Agent Smith here was chasing."

"Technically, they don't have either. But I have a theory about the latter." The Doctor started pacing, running his hands through his hair. "The rogue Cybermen most likely didn't know what they were using when they activated the Void Ship—Rose and I certainly had no idea what was inside until it opened. It seems to have been a last-ditch attempt on the Cybermen's part; as a way of escaping Torchwood, as opposed to a well-orchestrated plan. Mickey here got through so easily because he has a natural affinity for this universe—after all, this was his home."

Mickey's voice was low. "Is."

The Doctor blinked. "Hmm?"

"_Is_ home. I came through not planning on going back."

Rose frowned and leaned her hip against the table. "What about the other Torchwood?"

"I'm playin' forward for them—if they hadn't heard back from me, they'd have sent another team in. Once I got here and found out the Cybermen hadn't arrived yet, I called back and postponed the offensive until we could figure out where they were." He nodded at the Doctor. "Thanks to you, I guess we know they're in the Void now."

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "If you could connect me to the parallel Torchwood, I can guide them through sealing the Void on their side before I do the same here—the Cybermen would be trapped, and it would protect both universes from any unfortunate consequences."

"Sure thing, boss." He tossed the Doctor a sleek comm unit, and the Time Lord nodded.

"Right. I'll be in the TARDIS if anyone needs anything, but this might take a while." He grimaced. "It depends on how good they are at following directions." He left the room, Jack and the Brigadier behind him.

Donna finished her tea and stood, an oddly speculative look in her eyes. "You know, last time I was in your mad spaceship I didn't get much chance to check it out. 'S it okay with you if I go explore?"

Rose grinned. "Feel free. You're more than welcome aboard, you know."

A mischievous smile tilted Donna's mouth. "I'll think about it, Blondie."

The room was oddly quiet after Donna shut the door after her. Mickey cleared his throat. "So, the Doctor lets you be pretty free with the TARDIS, huh?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, when I was travellin' with you guys, you weren't the one who got to make the crew decisions."

"Oh. Right." Rose clenched her hands together and stared at her fingers.

Mickey followed her gaze, and his eyes widened as he noticed the small gold wedding band on her finger. "Oh. _Oh_." He snorted and shook his head. "Blimey, I was right. So you guys decided to make it official, huh? Shame I missed it."

"Yeah, a few months ago." She grimaced. "Mum guilted us into lettin' her plan the wedding, so don't feel too bad about missing it."

"You kiddin'? I would've _loved_ to see the Doctor get looped into all your Mum's madness. Hell, I'd have recorded the whole thing for posterity."

She scrunched her nose at him. "Good thing you weren't there then, yeah? Besides, the whole wedding thing was his idea."

Mickey looked incredulous. "Really?"

She scowled. "Yeah. Why is that such a surprise?"

"'S just, last time I was on the TARDIS he was off chasin' antique French tarts, an' now you say he's the one that wanted to get married."

"Things changed."

"Yeah? How much? Is he gonna stay with you when you're old and grey, or is he just going to run off 'cause he's too scared?"

She flushed. "That's not gonna happen."

Mickey just watched her evenly. "You sure about that, Rose?"

"Yeah, I am," she bit out. "Mickey, things _really_ changed." He raised his eyebrows at her and she continued, staring at the floor. "Mickey... remember that time with the tow truck?"

"When you tore the TARDIS apart to get back to 'im?" He snorted. "Yeah, I remember."

She spoke quietly. "It turns out the Doctor wasn't the only one who changed, that trip."

His head jerked back as his eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Connecting with the TARDIS like that, it... it changed me, Mickey. I'm not exactly the same girl you knew, anymore."

His breath was coming a little short. "You look the same to me."

"An' I will for a long, long time." She stared at her intertwined fingers. "When I looked into the TARDIS, she gave the Doctor an' I a real future together. I can stay with him, and he won't ever have to lose me."

"And what are you going to stay with him for, Rose? For him runnin' headlong into danger every time he lands? For watchin' him get so caught up in history that he forgets you need 'im?"

"He won't do that, Mickey! And you forget that when he runs, I run with him!"

"That's my _point_, Rose! You deserve better than that!"

She glared at him. "Yeah? What's better? Settlin' down somewhere, popping out a few kids? That may be your idea of a better future, Mickey, but it's not mine. I love this life, and I love the Doctor, an' I'm not going to apologize for that."

"What about in a couple decades—hell, in a couple centuries—when it's just you an' him, rattling around in that freaky spaceship of his, and you've lost all the people you loved? What're you gonna do then, when your Mum's dead and I'm dead and Jack's dead? How will you keep goin'?"

"I'll have him, that's how. Yeah, that day's gonna come. And yeah, it'll hurt like hell. But I'll live, Mickey. I'll miss all of you every day, but I'll live." She scowled. "Besides, the TARDIS isn't freaky at all."

Mickey stared at her and burst out laughing. After a moment, she joined him, laughing until they were clutching their stomachs and tears were leaking from their eyes. He slung an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against his shoulder. "You're mad. You know that, right?"

She grinned and poked him in the side. "Pretty sure of it, yeah."

"Good. Just thought you should know." He paused. "I have missed you, Rose. Steppin' into a dead man's shoes—I dunno if I can even describe it. Gettin' to take care of Gran was amazin', of course, but everybody else—it was like I was a living ghost. Jake tried bein' a mate, he did, but what he an' Ricky had... just bein' me hurt 'im."

"D'you regret stayin'?"

"Nah. I'm glad I did, really. Gave me some time to grow up."

"'M glad."

He glanced down at her and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, babe."

Rose smacked him, amused. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, _sure_ you didn't."

The door opened, and Donna strolled in. She smirked when she saw them, rolling her eyes. "Oh, be glad the jealous Time Lord isn't here. I swear, Spaceman can throw a world-class hissy fit when 'e wants."

"Nothin' to be jealous about." Mickey grinned and Rose and released her after squeezing her one last time. "You'll only hear congratulations from me."

Rose bit her lip, fighting back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "Thanks, Mick."

"Anytime, Rose. But listen—if you ever need to complain about 'im sometime, I'm your man."

Donna grinned. "Oh, I think you an' I'll get along."

Rose just rolled her eyes.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Donna snagged a biscuit from the desk, chewing it thoughtfully as she sat on the table's edge. "I think they'll be done soon—though Jack's doin' some heavy recruiting."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Recruiting?"

"Yeah, apparently the team leader was rarin' to come after Agent Smith here. Dunno if he's all right in the head, really. Seems a bit reckless."

Mickey winced as Rose asked, "Who's the team leader?"

Donna pursed her lips. "Oh, some bloke named Pete. The Doctor seemed to know 'im." She paused. "Rose? Are you okay? You've gone white as a sheet."

"Pete Tyler?"

"Yeah." She frowned and nibbled her biscuit. "He seems a nice enough bloke, but a bit kamikaze."

Rose spun to face her old friend, who was staring at the floor. "Mickey? What's goin' on?"

He swallowed. "I was hoping he wasn't about to do anything stupid, but I guess not." He glanced at Rose. "He's kinda messed up, Rose. Losin' Jackie, and then finding out who you were and runnin' away before he gave you a chance—he's full of regrets, an' he's been spending all his time hunting Cybermen to make up for it."

Rose pushed her hair back from her face, glancing distractedly around the room. "I thought… but he had Vitex, didn't he? And Torchwood? I thought he was going to run Torchwood, when we left."

"Nah, he's just been team leader for a while—he's got good people running Torchwood, an' he just focuses on the hunt."

She frowned. "What's Jack doing, then?"

Mickey sighed. "Pete was planning on being the one to go through the rift. I actually had to get 'im outvoted in order to be the one who went. He wasn't much happy with me after that."

Donna tilted her head. "It sounded like he was planning on coming through, anyway. Jack's just been angling to get him over here."

Rose shuddered. "Oh, God, Jack an' my dad? That is just _so_ wrong."

Donna's jaw dropped. "Your _dad_? No wonder the Doctor was acting so weird, he was talkin' to his father-in-law."

"Kind of, not really—oh, I just don't know. Jack's trying to get him over _here_?"

"Last I heard, yeah. How is he 'kind of, not really' your dad?"

"Donna, you know how Mickey's been living in a parallel world?"

"My life has _completely_ gone mad." At Rose's impatient look, she subsided. "Okay, yes. I know."

"When I was little girl, just a baby really, my dad got hit by a car an' died." She swallowed. "In the parallel world Mickey's been in, he never died—but he an' my mum never had me, either. 'S where the 'kind of, not really' comes in."

Donna stared at Rose. "'S it always like this around you two?"

Rose shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, this is actually a special level of weird, even for us."

The door opened and Jack walked in, his posture straight and his face serious. "Rose?"

She swallowed. "Yeah?"

"I just finished talking to Pete. This whole operation has basically hamstrung Torchwood here, and we need experienced leaders to take control. He's coming through. He'll be working with the Brigadier to renovate Torchwood." He took a deep breath. "I didn't realize he was your dad until about halfway through the conversation. Rose, I don't know what to say."

"But he's not my dad, Jack. Not really." She smiled a little painfully. "I'm glad you've got somebody experienced to help you." Her smile faded, and she stared at the ground. "Oh, God, how am I goin' to tell Mum?"

Mickey reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "D'you want me to come along when you do?"

"I think I might. Thanks, Mickey."

The door opened again, and the Brigadier and the Doctor reentered. The Brigadier cleared his throat. "Agent Smith, if you and Captain Harkness could organize the arrival of Commander Tyler?"

Mickey snapped to attention. "Of course, sir." The three of them left the room together, and Donna cleared her throat.

"If you two aren't going to vanish as soon as I turn around, I think I'll go home for a bit."

The Doctor nodded distractedly, his eyes still on Rose. "That's fine, Donna. We'll be here."

"Right. See you later, then." She left, and the Doctor walked over and wrapped his arms around Rose.

"Jack told you?"

"Donna, actually, but Jack did, too." She sighed and cuddled into his chest, resting her cheek against the comfortingly familiar wool. "I just don't know what to think—I don't even know what to feel. He's Pete Tyler, but he's not my dad."

He nodded against her hair and kissed her forehead. "It wasn't my idea, by the way—to pull him through. I think he was planning on going into the Void anyway, whether or not he came out the other side."

"Why would he _do_ that? He was doing good work at Torchwood, Mickey said."

The Doctor swallowed. "Loneliness and guilt can do strange things to people, Rose."

She reached up on her toes and kissed him softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He kissed her back carefully, only to pull back when a knock sounded at the door.

He cleared his throat. "Yes?"

Sergeant Lundy opened the door and saluted, as the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has asked you both to join him upstairs."

The Doctor sighed and grabbed Rose's hand. "Right. Don't bother showing us, we know the way."

She followed him up to the gleaming white room, where the TARDIS was parked—bluer and bigger than life—against the far wall. A group of scientists in pristine lab coats were hurrying around the room, watched carefully by the few UNIT soldiers patrolling through. The Brigadier looked up from a hushed conversation with a middle-aged woman and waved them over. "Doctor, and Ms. Tyler of course, this is Dr. Samhita Warner. She was one of UNIT's first Torchwood plants, and she's been involved with both organizations for thirteen years."

Dr. Warner was a striking Asian woman, her silver-flecked black hair pulled back into a loose bun. "So, the notorious Doctor—and the oh-so mysterious Rose Tyler. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." She tilted her head, her glasses sliding down her nose. "Tell me, Ms. Tyler, how exactly did you manage the Bad Wolf virus? At Torchwood and UNIT we've run into security measures before, but that… that was a thing of beauty."

Rose blushed. "That was a bit of a one-off, on my part."

"I'd love to hear how you did it sometime. Now the Brigadier is raising his eyebrows at me, so I suppose I should start talking about what I'm supposed to." She smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Because the sphere—or Void ship, as I suppose it should be called—only showed up a few days ago, we've been at a bit of a loss as to how to approach it and/or its effects. I believe you are more familiar with the technology, Doctor?"

He nodded, pulling out his glasses. Rose bit her lip against a smile. "With the general concept of it, yes, even if I hadn't encountered this particular type of craft before."

"Good, then you can tell us what to look out for."

"There'll be some electro-radial effects in the air around here—especially since this is the room it showed up in, I believe?"

"Four days—Mark, what time is it? Ah, thank you—and seven hours ago. I'm not sure about the number of minutes, sorry."

"Quite all right, Dr. Warner. So, a bit over a hundred hours ago." The Doctor pulled his earlobe thoughtfully. "That should be a close enough time frame that no lasting effects will have taken hold. Void leaks are nasty things, and the ship that came through had no finesse to it. They just punched their way through." He snorted. "No surprise, really, considering who made it."

Dr. Warner perked up. "Oh, so you know what species created this craft?"

"I know who it _was_, yes, but it'll do you no good—and I'd really rather they be forgotten." He slipped his hand around Rose's and squeezed it affectionately. "They're gone now, every last one of them."

The Brigadier was watching them thoughtfully. "All of them? Really?"

The Doctor nodded. "According to the TARDIS, yes—and she may be troublesome, but she's never lied to me." He smiled a little bitterly. "The Time War is finally over."

The Brigadier exhaled with a rush, and Dr. Warner tilted her head curiously. "Is there any particular reason I'm not allowed to know the planet of origin of this craft?"

The Doctor looked evenly at her. "Just trust me, Dr. Warner. It was made by creatures better forgotten."

"But if we allow extinct beings to be forgotten, then they are truly erased."

Rose spoke quietly, looking straight into Dr. Warner's eyes. "Yeah, that's kinda the point, in this case."

"How can you possibly justify that?"

The Doctor's jaw tightened. "Dr. Warner, merely being _forgotten_ is far better than they deserved."

"But—"

The Brigadier cleared his throat. "The subject is closed, Dr. Warner. You had other questions to ask the Doctor?"

She gritted her teeth. "Yes, I did. _Sir._ Doctor, if you would follow me?" He nodded stiffly, only to pause when Rose tugged on his hand.

She drew in a deep breath. "Doctor, I think I'd better go talk to Mum. About everything."

He blinked and drew his eyebrows together. "Now? Are you sure? You don't want me to come with you?"

"I think she'd take it better without you there. Sorry. An' you've got stuff to focus on here."

He nodded reluctantly and followed Dr. Warner, who had been waiting impatiently. The Brigadier cleared his throat. "Ms. Tyler, I appreciate that you and your mother may have a close relationship, but I must ask you to be discreet. You may have been given a certain level of clearance due to your relationship with the Doctor, but your mother has not."

Rose drew herself to her full height—which was unfortunately several centimeters shorter than his. "Sir, the parallel version of the dead husband she's mourned for twenty years is going to be arriving in this universe soon. She deserves to know."

His mouth opened and shut again. He sighed. "It may be against procedure, but I cannot argue that. At the very least, allow UNIT to escort you."

The Londoner inside her rebelled at the thought of being coddled, but Rose nodded reluctantly—the thought of the Torchwood SUV parked outside the Powell Estates lingered.

The Brigadier smiled. "Thank you, Miss Tyler. Sergeant Lundy, if you would escort Miss Tyler?"

The petite brunette saluted. "Of course, Sir."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rose walked up the steps of Bucknall House, her heart thudding against her ribs. She'd put this off for too long, and now she had even more to tell Jackie. She reached the door and knocked, biting her lip.

After a moment, it swung open, and Jackie blinked at her, surprised, before pulling her into a bone-cracking hug. "Rose! Why didn't you let me know you'd be stopping by? Where's himself?"

"He's helping out with something in town—an' that's actually what I came to talk to you about. Well, that and… " Rose swallowed. "Can I come in?"

"'Course you can, sweetheart! Sorry it's a bit of a mess, I only just got back from Mo's. Here, just let me get us some tea, all right?" Rose slumped down on the comfortable couch, playing with her fingers. Jackie came bustling out of the kitchen, steaming mugs in both hands. "Here we go. Now, what's it you wanted to talk to me about? You aren't pregnant already, are you?"

"_What?_ No, that's ridiculous! I don't even know if the Doctor and I can _have_ kids."

Jackie pursed her lips. "Fine, but you'd better find out soon. I don't know if I want to be a grandmum yet."

"No, what I wanted to talk to you about…" She paused. "Remember when you got the tow truck, when the Doctor was stuck in the future?"

"It's not exactly somethin' you forget, is it?" She sipped her tea, and stared down into her cup. "You were gone for so long, Rose. I thought I'd sent you off to die."

"No, Mum. When we opened the TARDIS, though, she connected with me. 'Bonded', the Doctor calls it." She took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly normal anymore, Mum."

Jackie froze, her mug caught between her lap and her mouth. "What do you mean, Rose?"

"When the TARDIS and I bonded, Mum, we kind of… made a few adjustments." She stared down at the familiar pink mug in her hands. "I'm not aging, Mum. I don't know if I ever will. An' anytime I get hurt, she heals me."

"'Anytime you get hurt'?" Jackie set her mug carefully on the coffee table, her movements tight. "What happened, Rose?"

"We were helping a group of rebels, an' there was an ambush. One of 'em got me, and the Doctor thought I was gone until I started glowin'."

Jackie swallowed heavily. "What _are_ you?"

Rose bit her lip and took a sip of tea. "I don't know, exactly. But I know I'm going to be able to stay with the Doctor for the rest of our lives."

"The Doctor. Always the Doctor." Jackie's jaw tightened. "What have you done to yourself, Rose? What about _your_ life?"

"This _is_ my life, Mum." Rose glanced down at the small gold band on her hand. "We promised 'till death do us part, Mum. It'll just be a bit longer than for most people."

"What happens if it doesn't work out, Rose? What happens if you two have a fight an' end up splittin' up, and you're left someone, immortal an' alone? What are you going to do without 'im?"

"That's not goin' to happen, Mum." She shook her head when Jackie started talking again, interrupting. "But that's not the only thing I came to talk to you about today. When the Doctor and I told you about Mickey stayin' in a parallel world, we weren't lying. We really _had_ been pulled into a parallel world, and Mickey stayed there four years before comin' back. But there's something we didn't tell you about that world." She took a deep breath. "In that world, Pete Tyler never died."

Jackie dropped her mug with a clatter, spilling tea on the rug. She stared at her daughter. "What?"

"He didn't get run over on the way to the Haskins' wedding—but he and your alternate never had kids, either. After the other universe's Jackie died in an attack by these creatures called the Cybermen, I told 'im who I was. He didn't really take it well." Rose glanced up at Jackie and bit her lip. "The reason Mickey came back is 'cause the Cybermen were trying to break into this universe, and he came over here to try an' stop them. But there's somethin' else, Mum. Pete's coming, too."

Jackie gasped in a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears. "He's… he's comin' here? Pete Tyler?"

Rose looked at her mum, her own eyes stinging with tears. "He is, Mum. But he won't know _this_ you. He lost Jackie four years ago, just like you lost him twenty years ago."

"If it's Pete Tyler, Rose, he'll know me." Jackie's lips pursed. "You know more about this than you're lettin' on, don't you? You know where he's goin' to be."

"Mum, it's a government agency. I can't just bring you in."

"The hell you can't. You an' the Doctor waltz into wherever you want all the time." She picked up her mug from the floor and straightened her shoulders. "Now I'm going to go get freshened up, an' when I'm out you can take me wherever it is."

"Mum—" Jackie disappeared into her bedroom, and Rose covered her eyes with her arm and groaned. "The Doctor's goin' to kill me."

INSERT HORIZONTAL LINE HERE

Sergeant Lundy's face would have been hilarious if Rose hadn't been so nervous. "Ms. Tyler, the Brigadier did not authorize you to bring civilian bystanders back to Torchwood with you."

"Bystander?" Jackie snorted. "Remember the giant rock in the sky last Christmas, an' how everybody _didn't_ die? That' was 'cause of me."

Rose straightened her shoulders. "Listen, if you get in trouble 'cause of this, just tell 'em it was me, but I'm not backin' down. She comes, or we don't go."

Sgt. Lundy glanced back and forth between them and nodded finally. "All right, but we go directly to the Brigadier—no tours of the facility or anything like that."

"I understand." Rose and Jackie slipped into the back of the Jeep, and Rose dug her elbow into Jackie's side and spoke quietly. "What was that about the Sycorax?"

Jackie pursed her lips. "Well, it was my tea that woke 'im up, wasn't it? Otherwise, he'd still be snorin' and everybody else would be pancakes on the pavement."

After several minutes, she glanced at her daughter and looked back out the window. "Rose, what you said earlier, about the TARDIS… she'll keep you safe, now?"

Rose nodded, and Jackie sighed. "I can't say I'm happy with the idea of it, but it's already happened, hasn't it? If the Doctor ever tries to leave you behind, though, I'll haunt his skinny arse for the rest of time."

Rose burst out laughing, and Jackie smiled begrudgingly. Sgt. Lundy cleared her throat and glanced back at them. "We're here."

The white room was still buzzing with activity when Rose and Jackie arrived, and Rose saw the Doctor impatiently looking around for her as she approached him. His eyes met hers and widened when he noticed her guest.

A balding ginger-haired man stood next to him, and turned to follow the Doctor's gaze. Jackie's hand grabbed Rose's in a vise-like grip, and she gasped out a breath.

Pete Tyler's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Jacks?"

She nodded tremulously, smiling through her tears. "It's me, Pete."

"I… I lost you."

She sobbed out a laugh. "An' I lost you, twenty years ago. But look at us. Here we are again." She shook her head quickly, blinking back tears. "'Course, we're a bit old now."

Pete smiled softly. "Not in my eyes."

Rose slipped over to the Doctor, leaning her head on his shoulder. The Brigadier appeared on her other side, smiling a bit as he shook his head. "Is this your idea of discreet, Ms. Tyler?"

She glanced up at him and looked back to her embracing parents. "Nah, not really. But it _is_ my idea of right."

The Doctor grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Think about it this way, Alistair. Now you know you'll never have to worry about his loyalty." He paused and cocked his head. "UNIT still has me on file, don't they?"

"Of course, Doctor. We never know when you'll pop up, so we keep a running account for you."

"Good." He looked back at Pete and Jackie, who were speaking quietly to each other, alone in the universe. "Use my account to fund anything Pete Tyler needs to get settled in this universe. There should be more than enough in there."

The Brigadier coughed into his hand in a poor attempt to cover his laughter. "Actually, Doctor, we tend to use your account whenever you leave a particularly large mess behind." He glanced at the Doctor, and his mustache twitched. "You can feel proud to know that you helped fund the reconstruction of 10 Downing Street."

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "Oi! How's that fair? I was saving the Earth!"

"Oh, we know that. You also destroyed a historical and patriotic landmark to do so, and construction in London can get frightfully expensive these days—especially when the crew keeps coming across pieces of roasted extraterrestrial." He raised a hand at the Doctor's protest. "Don't worry, old friend, there is more than enough to acclimatise Commander Tyler."

Rose bit her lip, her eyes dancing. "So, what, is UNIT the Doctor's accountant?"

The Brigadier chuckled and shook his head. "A bit humbling to have it put that way, but you're not inaccurate."

There was a small commotion at the door, and Rose and the Doctor looked over to see Donna strolling over, followed by two hassled-looking soldiers carrying a full set of matched luggage. "I decided to take you up on your offer. Is it all right if I drop my stuff off?"

Rose grinned. "I'll let you in."

INSERT HORIZONTAL LINE HERE

Donna finished carrying the last of her luggage into her room, setting it down on her bed with an exhale and stretching her back. "Well, that's the last of it. I should be ready for anything, now."

Rose grinned and leaned against the doorway. "Y'know, there's a wardrobe down the hall."

"Yeah, but that's just not the same thing as wearin' your own clothes, is it?" She paused. "Those were your parents, weren't they?"

"Kind of—"

"Not really, I remember." Donna smiled. "They definitely seemed to know each other, though."

"Yeah, they did." Rose smiled and walked back down the hallway with Donna. "I don't think I've ever seen my Mum that happy."

"Well, I'm right glad for you."

"Thanks, Donna." They found the Doctor waiting impatiently outside the doors, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as UNIT and Torchwood workers scurried around him.

He brightened when he saw Rose, a smile flashing across his face. "Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder if you two had gotten lost in there."

Rose grinned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Nah, she likes me too much to let me get lost."

The Doctor screwed up his face. "You're probably right about that. Anyway, I've shown Dr. Warner how to patch up the Void as best they can, but there's some more repair work that only I can do." He glanced down at Rose, who was watching her parents again. "Would you be alright with leaving soon?"

"Yeah, I think that'd be okay. Give them some time to get used to each other." She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the lips, and walked over to say goodbye to her parents.

Donna grinned. "She really has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?"

"What? No, that's ridiculous." She continued grinning at him, and he sighed. "Maybe a little."

Mickey and Jack joined them, and Jack laughed. "A _little_? Keep telling yourself that, Doc."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Remind me, who asked you for your opinion?"

"See, that's the amazing part of the whole 'social interaction' thing. People interact." He laughed when the Doctor rolled his eyes. "So, are you two off, then?"

Donna raised an eyebrow. "We three, actually, flyboy. I'm goin' along."

Jack blinked. "Just like the old days, I guess."

"You're always welcome, Jack." At Jack's disbelieving look, the Doctor flushed and tugged his ear. "You really are."

"Maybe some other time, Doc. For now, Torchwood needs all the help it can get."

Mickey nodded. "The place is really in shambles, right about now. Reminds me a bit of the other world after the Cybermen attack, to be honest."

"Well, you've both got Rose's number. Give us a ring if you need anything." Rose rejoined them, wiping her eyes. The Doctor frowned. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. No, I'm brilliant." She glanced at her parents again and beamed. "We off, then?"

"Just about."

Rose hugged Jack and Mickey tightly and followed the Doctor and Donna into the TARDIS, shutting the door behind her. She grinned and joined the Doctor at the console as Donna situated herself at the jump seat. "So, where are we goin' then?"

"Into Time…" The Doctor grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows, and she giggled and finished, "And space!"

He threw the switch to dematerialize as Donna groaned. "You two are _so_ corny."

FINIS

**A/N: And that's the end of this installment! I've been working on a few other stories that don't fit into this storyline, so I might end up posting those sometime soon—depends on the muse, really. Thanks to all of you who read, and especially those who reviewed—feedback is a large part what makes writing so enjoyable. :) **


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